City of the Future: The cutting-edge technology that will end UK traffic jams FOREVER

Intelligent cars – with the ability to talk to one another – could end traffic jams

CLOGGED roads could soon be a thing of the past thanks to a staggering new technology which allows vehicles to communicate with one another and learn from the city around them.

 

Motoring and technology engineers are hard work on the next generation of connected vehicles, which could completely transform British roads.

The clever concept revolves around cars talking to the city and guiding drivers through the busy streets with minimal delay.

Smart cars and smart cities will work together to make sure traffic lights go green when roads are at their busiest – keeping traffic moving and avoiding delays.

 

Motorists will also be warned instantly of any hold-ups on the road ahead and real-time data on travel conditions will be beamed directly to cars.

Other alerts that will pop-up onto your dash include pedestrians crossing and emergency vehicles in your area.

This may sound like a futuristic concept but companies such as NXP and Siemens are already fully testing the idea.

NewsNewsBlog.blogspot.com travelled to Bordeaux earlier this month to see the idea in action.

 

With NXP designing the in-car chips and Siemens handling the smart infrastructure, the intelligent system will warn motorists of trouble ahead and divert them away from traffic hotspots.

Drivers will be shown when they’re approaching danger areas such as pedestrian crossings or lower speed limits.

All the data is flashed up on the drivers dashboard in real-time, keeping them constantly aware of issues ahead.

But it’s not just about speed, as the new system is also being designed to make things safer in our towns and cities.

In fact, it’s hoped the system could save more than 1,000 lives each year.

 

The smart system gives drivers a heads-up about other activity on the road

Another neat feature of the futuristic project is the ability to make cars talk to each other.

This means when cars slow down on the motorways, traffic behind is warned of the impending problems and allows drivers' time to take the necessary action.

It could also be used by highway agencies to slow traffic as roads get busier.

We can certainly see it making driving quicker and safer, but there are concerns about drivers being monitored.

The teams behind the concept are keen to explain that the systems are only being designed to help drivers and won’t be used for any other purposes.

 

NXP and Siemens believe the technology will be ready to deploy by 2020

NXP and Siemens are also working hard to secure the smart systems from hackers.

To prevent hackers from being able to take control of the traffic light system in a city – the all-important NXP is rigged to self-destruct when it detects any nefarious interference.

The technology firms claim the new technology could be ready to hit our streets by 2020, but there's a huge amount of work to do to make this a reality.

Firstly, cities need to implement the technology into streets and the costs are huge.

And drivers will have to gain trust in the systems fitted to their cars without fear of big brother-style monitoring.

The warnings are also going to need some fine-tuning as having witnessed first hand the constant alerts flashing on the dashboard we think many might find the constant updates incredibly annoying.

However, if this new technology can end the jams in our cities we think many motorists will welcome it with open arms.