Could Data Turn Denver’s Traffic Nightmare into a Daydream?

Denver drivers waste 49 hours a year in traffic delays, according to CBS. For this reason, Denver ranks as one of the most congested cities in America. If you live in Denver, you are all too familiar with this. 

If you’re very, very lucky, you have not been directly affected by Denver’s growing congestion. Meanwhile, most of us are getting frustrated with how much time we are wasting with our feet on the break, and how much money we are burning on the fuel to sit in recirculated air.

And if you are one of the lucky ones, keep in mind that you are still being indirectly affected. Traffic increases pollution, increases collisions and deters visitors. If traffic keeps up, we could lose our fresh, mountain air; and with it, we could lose the tourists and business visitors that are boosting our economy.

But with a shrinking budget, how can we expect the DOT to fix this? And if it is this bad now, can you imagine how bad it will be in the future, as our population continuously grows?

What comes to most people’s minds first is to build more roads. Not only is this a very expensive option, but unfortunately, it has been proven again and again, that building more roads does not reduce traffic congestion. Instead, we should turn to a data-drive solution that will help us implement an intelligent transportation system.

How Can Data Help?

People Tweet, and post about accidents and traffic all the time. Data is also produced from our mobile phones, GPS trackers, cameras on the roads and sensors on cars and roads. The only problem is, these are all disparate data sources, so cities are having trouble accessing the insight from all the data.

A data analytics solution would enable cities, and their residents to access all of this data. It would consolidate the data, and give people information in real-time.

A Data-Driven, Traffic Management Solution Would Result In:

• Decreased congestion
• Reduced emissions
• Less traffic-related noise
• Reduction in collisions and an improvement in emergency vehicle response times
• Determining where to place public transit
• Operation of public transit at full capacity

The Future:

There are 1.2 billion cars on the road today. By 2035, this number is projected to be 2 billion. Yet, we can likely expect our roads to be less congested.

For now, we should focus on connecting drivers. But in the near future, “connected cars” may be essential to managing traffic. Soon, our cars could be making suggestions on what route we should take, and even what time we should leave the house.

Soon enough, we could expect self-driving cars. These will not only enhance traffic management, but will provide an exceptional driving experience.