SMART SENSORS |
Traffic monitoring
in smart cities
By using sensors and interfaces, systems used in speed enforcement
can now offer much more to both road users and authorities
Words | Jan Krüger, Vitronic, Germany
The topic of smart cities is
Above: Smart cities
widely discussed worldwide.
require smart traffic
A total population of 5.2
monitoring to help
billion live in the world’s
reduce congestion,
lower pollution
and plan future
transport strategy cities today, and that number will
grow by approximately one billion
by the year 2030. This number
is expected to equate to 60% of the
world’s population. These people
are consuming more and more
resources – including air – within
a comparatively small amount of
space. That is why it is so important
to keep the air we have clean.
We now must identify where there
is an increased need for action and
how smart ideas can be used to solve
160 Intertraffic World | Annual Showcase 2020
these problems with the help of
technology. One thing is sure:
optimizing the traffic in cities is
important and traffic monitoring
systems can assist even today in more
ways than one might think. Vitronic
wants to help shape what this will
look like in the future.
The term smart city comprises a
cluster of topics that include, among
others, the smart economy, smart
people, smart governance, smart
living, smart mobility and the
smart environment. The smart city
represents a huge growth market for
companies, so it is no wonder that the
smart economy is the nucleus of all
activities and the first sector
to offer application scenarios.
The digitalization of the economy
has advanced significantly. Terms
such as big data, Industry 4.0 and
the Internet of Things and their
applications point the way to an
interconnected and digitized city.
Of course, they also impact the
concept of mobility within the
city and the environment as an
important part of quality of life.
Smart mobility
The concept of smart mobility
within the traffic infrastructure
brings together technology and
traffic monitoring. It focuses on
using the already limited space
– particularly in city centers –
more efficiently to create a better
living environment. Distributing
traffic volume also benefits
the environment.
Today, fixed, semi-stationary and
mobile systems are used for speed
enforcement. These are essentially
image processing solutions used
primarily to ensure better traffic
safety and therefore improve the
quality of city life.
However, systems from the
Poliscan product portfolio do