Beat the jam with IT

From TODAY World - TRAFFIC WOES
Monday August 4, 2008

New technology will allow on-board computers in cars to communicate with each other

LONDON — Cars that warn motorists about accidents before they happen and “intelligent” roads that direct drivers to empty parking spaces are being developed in Britain.

Traffic authorities and vehicle manufacturers are testing new “cooperative transport systems” that allow cars to send and receive up-to-the-minute information about the road ahead and the vehicles around them.

The main causes of traffic jams and accidents are drivers failing to react to changes in traffic and overreacting by braking too hard. Experts hope the project will improve safety and lessen traffic jams on the overloaded road network — there are more than 32 million vehicles on Britain’s roads.

Technology similar to that used by wireless computer networks will allow onboard computers in cars to communicate with each other to get information about hazards and congestion. In one example, sensors in the wheels of a car can detect when it is beginning to skid or the driver brakes suddenly, allowing the vehicle to send a warning to surrounding motorists that an accident is imminent.

Vehicles will also be able to provide the authorities with information about defects in the road surface. Central traffic management centres can then redirect motorists along alternative routes to avoid jams.

The technology is being tested in six locations around Europe, including a site in London. It is being developed as part of a European Commission project involving car manufacturers including BMW, Volvo and Daimler Chrysler. Mr Hermann Meyer, chief executive of Ertico, the partnership behind the project, said: “At the moment, cars receive information on their radios and GPS, but we want cars to also transmit information both to the road infrastructure and to other cars around them.

In London’s Camden High Street, a system that announces when parking lots are empty and then uses GPS to guide drivers to the space is being tested.

Using roadside masts incorporated into lampposts, they hope to provide roads with a high-speed network that will allow cars to communicate with each other and with the traffic management authorities.

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH