Big data can help keep traffic flowing

By using real-time data from connected cars, transport authorities can swiftly make informed decisions to alleviate congestion, writes Graham Bradley 

Anyone who has ever experienced a morning rush hour knows just how busy the UK’s roads are. But unfortunately, it’s only set to get busier. The Office of National Statistics estimates that the UK population will reach 70 million by 2027 and this rise, combined with a growing UK economy and falling levels of unemployment, will only lead to more people taking to the roads, commuting into cities for work. 

We are already seeing it starting to happen. INRIX’s Scorecard report earlier this year revealed that traffic congestion rose in three-quarters of the UK’s metropolitan areas in 2014 while in London drivers spent an additional 14 hours sat in gridlock compared with the year before, wasting 96 hours, on average, in traffic. 

With figures like these, it is clear something needs to be done to help de-congest Britain’s cities, particularly in the capital. Transport for London (TfL) realises this and is taking necessary action, investing heavily in plans to improve and modernise the city’s transport network. 

But improving infrastructure comes at a cost and it can only go so far. Transport authorities, then, need to think ‘smart’ and seriously consider additional sustainable solutions to remedy the urban mobility problem and get Britain moving again. And this is where big data can play an important role.

Smart solutions, employing real-time traffic data derived from connected devices, are already being considered by governments as the long-term answer to the congestion problem. And with research firm Gartner’s predicting a quarter of billion connected cars on the roads by 2020, it is a future-proof answer too. By gathering the billions of data points from these connected cars every day, we can start to build a more accurate picture of what is happening on the roads at any given time.

Armed with this data, transport authorities are then able to detect extraordinary traffic queues faster, issue earlier warnings of congestion and make informed decisions more quickly to resolve these issues before they grow. Drivers, too, can have access to real-time information about congestion hotspots and the re-routing options available to them. 

Solving the congestion problem relies on our ability to link the connected car to smart cities applications to harness the power of real-time insight and predictive analytics. In this way we can build robust intelligence into Britain’s transportation networks. There can be little doubt that big data is crucial to the future of driving.  Embracing it will significantly improve the way people travel to and around the UK’s cities.

Graham Bradley is senior director & UK country manager at INRIX.

He will be speaking at Smarter Travel LIVE which takes place at ArenaMK Milton Keynes on 17 -18 March 2016