My morning commute usually takes about an hour, on a good day, and it's only 25 miles from home to office. As I was sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic - yet again - I began to think of the global nature of this problem and how much time and money is being wasted. According to the most recent Urban Mobility Report, traffic congestion causes U.S. citizens to spend an additional 5.5 billion hours in transit and expend an extra 2.9 billion gallons of fuel. This equates to a staggering cost of$121 billion.
In addition to the monetary toll of traffic congestion, there are also the pressing concerns of safety and the effect on our environment. In itsGlobal Status Report on Road Safety(2013), the World Health Organization emphasized that worldwide more than a million people die each year in road traffic incidents. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, part of the U.S. Department of Transportation, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for age 4 and every age 11 through 27, in the U.S. alone. Transportation creates nearly one-third of greenhouse gas emissions according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
At the same time, major global trends are driving the need for significant changes in transportation around the world:
Cisco Delivers Solutions through Connected Roadways
Cisco has developed Connected Roadways as one component of our larger Connected Transportation solutions. These solutions can help transportation industry leaders address challenges with intelligent networking capabilities that leverage the Internet of Everything (IoE). Through IoE's connection of people, processes, data, and things across the entire transportation spectrum, Connected Roadways will enable cities, municipalities, transportation and public safety agencies to improve their decision making ability.
Agencies and enterprises benefit from a converged, end-to-end, wired, and wireless infrastructure that allows new vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure applications. They reduce their operating and maintenance costs, while commuters and motorists benefit from safer roads with more available services and less congestion.
Just imagine... a world with no more traffic jams. I don't know about you but it sounds like a little slice of heaven to me.
For additional information about Cisco Connected Roadways: