Future Focus |
rTohead ahead
th road As Traffic Technology International
celebrates 25 years, we take a look back
through the archives, and also look to the
future, asking industry thought leaders:
What do you hope will be the biggest
positive change in transportation in 25
years’ time? And what should we be doing
now to help bring about this change?
Traffic Technology International September/October 2019
www.TrafficTechnologyToday.c 006 om
My main hope is that emerging
technologies and services, such as
connected and automated driving
and Mobility as a Service,
integrated with social innovations,
will provide everyone with mobility, so that they
can fully exercise their capacity, enabling
sustainable development of society. Inclusive
society, where diverse people in diverse
communities actively participate in generating
value, will enhance both wellness of individuals
and economic development.
To realize such a society we have to engage
more in societal aspects of mobility issues.
Transportation of people and goods is not an
objective but a means to bring people to where
they have real value, and to deliver goods to
where they are needed. We must investigate
the real value of transportation and design
societal systems that effectively achieve it.
Hajime Amano, secretary general, ITS
Asia-Pacific / president ITS Japan
For more from Amano turn to page 19
Ibelieve the biggest positive change in the next
25 years will be in addressing the global health
crisis caused by road traffic crashes, through
greater use of technology. Road traffic deaths
are at 1.35 million a year – that’s nearly 3,700
people per day – an unacceptably high number,
which could be addressed utilizing technologies
available today. V2X technologies developed by
a global consortium of government researchers,
academics, vehicle OEMs and others have the
potential to address up to 80% of unimpaired
driver crashes, according to estimates provided
by NHTSA. We just need the strength of conviction
to move forward and then be poised to take
advantage of next-generation of advances as they
become available for deployment. While it’s fair to
say the first 50 years of road safety focused on
helping vehicle occupants survive crashes, the
next 50 will focus on avoiding crashes altogether.
Greg Winfree, director, Texas A&M
Transportation Institute. Look out for Greg
Winfree in our next issue as he joins the Traffic
team as our new regular columnist
We just need
the strength
of conviction to move
forward and then be
poised to take
advantage of nextgeneration
advances as
they become available
for deployment
Greg Winfree,
director,
Texas A&M
Transportation
Institute
/www.TrafficTechnologyToday.c
