Why now is the time to use AI Video Analytics to improve traffic

Smart Traffic Surveillance combining IoT security cameras and AI Video Analytics helps authorities, traffic planners and highway operators to systematically monitor and understand road users' behavior. Gaining valuable insights from video data to optimize traffic flow and minimize accident risks - automatically and in real time - has never been so easy

1 - Safety: too many deaths and injuries on the road

“About 1.3 million people die on the world's roads and 20 - 50 million are injured every year. Road traffic crashes are a major cause of death among all age groups...” -  World Health Organisation

• Road traffic deaths: 3700 people die on the roads every day
• Pedestrians and cyclists comprise of: 26% of road traffic deaths

Find more staggering numbers in our earlier blog post here: Smart traffic management is making our roads safer than ever before

No wonder that the United Nations Agenda (Stockholm Declaration) has set the ambitious target to halve the global number of deaths and injuries from road traffic crashes by 2021.

To achieve these ambitious goals and further reduce fatalities in the long term, traffic worldwide must become safer and more efficient. New concepts and technologies for next-level traffic management are available and are currently being implemented.

Example of automated pedestrian detection using smart video technology

Worth reading: AI is ready to make the traffic of Smart Cities safer and free flowing

2 - Congestion: too many hours wasted in traffic jams

“Congestion costs each American nearly 100 hours, $1,400 a year.” - INRIX, Inc.

Slow-moving traffic and congestion cost millions of road users much time and energy every day. The overall economic damage caused by poorly managed traffic is likely to be too high in many countries worldwide. This is the price we pay for boundless mobility today.

10 most congested urban areas in the U.S.

Source: inrix.com

Find the cities with the worst traffic congestion worldwide in our white paper

3 - Planning: keeping up with rapid change

In the past, urban planners operated on 20-year traffic management cycles. Today, planning cycles are reduced to 5 years to respond better to change. To keep up with the rapid evolution of traffic patterns and driver behavior, the pace of adaptation and innovation must continue to accelerate. However, today’s traffic management systems aren’t built to adapt to new requirements flexibly. Planning based on real-time insights is still a theory.

“Future traffic management needs are planned based on real-time insights, focused on tomorrow's opportunities rather than solving yesterday's problems.” - Brent Jacot, Global Business Development Manager

Example of traffic modeling empowered by AI Video Analytics

Source: GoodVision LTD

Find more exciting articles on smart traffic management in our blog

The future of intelligent transportation systems (ITS)

Today's traffic sensors specialize in detecting "simple" traffic incidents such as cars running red lights or exceeding speed limits. Traffic surveillance also helps monitor road conditions on a quantitative level, such as counting cars, allowing human operators to detect congestion before it occurs. Statistical traffic analysis and control still requires humans to convert insights into long-term planning. However, this could soon change with a new generation of AI-powered video technology. The future of intelligent transportation systems (ITS) has already begun.

Smart Traffic Surveillance using AI apps from the Azena Application Store

With the Azena’s groundbreaking Camera OS, traffic operators and authorities are free to install as many apps for a variety of tasks on their surveillance cameras and combine them as needed. With just a few clicks, surveillance cameras turn into real business all-rounders!