Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet-of-Things (IoT) and low latency 5G network connectivity are paving the way for a host of opportunities to transform the transportation industry. These are technologies that facilitate vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) and vehicle to everything (V2X) communications, enabling both computer assisted driving and autonomous vehicles, both of which promise to make driving safer and more efficient.1
Safer because road hazards, traffic, environmental conditions and even the actions and future actions of other vehicles on the road can be communicated to drivers or directly to on-board driving equipment, allowing appropriate adjustments to be made in terms of speed and positioning.2 Vehicles that are aware of where they’re going, where the vehicles around them may be headed, when vehicles around them may change course, when traffic conditions may require adjustment to the route, when traffic signals are going to change, that there’s a stopped car around the corner, or a pedestrian who’s stepped out into the street complement existing LiDAR, camera and radar technology already being employed to assist drivers.3
More efficient because interconnected traffic will flow better, will allow people to use their commute times more productively and will be more fuel efficient. Further the vehicles will be more capable of predictive maintenance so fewer automobiles will be subject to unexpected failure on the roads and the same sensors that assist with maintenance can help tune performance, similar to how these same technologies are helping with the fuel efficiency of air traffic.
Car culture,
particularly in the US is an impediment to uptake of the technology, but car
and ridesharing have already made small inroads into changing cultural
attitudes toward car ownership, and driver assistance is helping make the idea
of self-driving vehicles more palatable to drivers. These technologies aren’t
limited to personal transport either, commercial and public transport can
leverage these same technologies to improve service delivery, safety and
efficiency.
1 Hoeben, R. (2018, August 22). V2X is Here to Stay—Now Let’s Use It for Autonomous Cars. Retrieved from Electronic Design: https://www.electronicdesign.com/automotive/v2x-here-stay-now-let-s-use-it-autonomous-cars
2 Healey, J. (2013, April). If cars could talk, accidents might be avoidable. Retrieved April 25, 2019, from TED: https://www.ted.com/talks/jennifer_healey_if_cars_could_talk_accidents_might_be_avoidable
3 Fourtané, S. (2018, November 16). Connected Vehicles in Smart Cities: The Future of Transportation. Retrieved May 1, 2019, from Interesting Engineering: https://interestingengineering.com/connected-vehicles-in-smart-cities-the-future-of-transportation