Kapsch investigates what a new start on the roads after Corona looks like

Paul Hutton April 29, 2020 3 min read 0

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Traffic jams on UK roads are likely to return quickly after the Corona crisis, but 75 per cent of UK citizens are concerned about the negative environmental impact this might have.

Faced with such increased congestion, nearly as many are prepared to use a navigation app to choose their route. Surprisingly then, when selecting a route, environmental considerations are not a priority for the majority of drivers. Instead, almost two thirds of respondents want a route that guarantees the shortest travel time. These are findings of the “Kapsch TrafficCom Index.” 1,000 citizens representative of the population have been surveyed by a market research institute in the UK.

The intelligent use of navigation devices offers opportunities to reduce road congestion and traffic jams. This technology could also help to achieve other desirable goals. For example, traffic planners could also factor in environmental impacts such as CO2 emissions in their route recommendations. The survey findings show that this would require a change in overall thinking, though: At present, the majority of drivers in the UK consider the shortest travel time (61 percent), the most reliable travel time (59 percent) or the shortest distance (53 percent) to be “important” or “very important” when selecting a route. And only 39 percent of the respondents consider routes with the lowest impact on the environment to be “important” or “very important”. 

Smart navigation networks

“Smart navigation networks are a key technology for fundamentally reducing traffic jams and pollution on roads,” says Steve Parsons, Head of UK Sales Kapsch TrafficCom. “The desire of drivers to use navigation tools to minimise travel times should be utilised by public planners. The aim is to offer digital traffic management solutions that take important societal goals into account. Environmental protection is one of these important targets that will improve our everyday life.”

Signal control Systems in Madrid

For example, traffic light control systems, which automatically adapt to the current traffic situation, have already proven their effectiveness. Such signal control systems have been installed in the Spanish capital Madrid, where they reduced traffic jams by about 20 percent. The volume of traffic jams will be reduced even more significantly if car data is linked to the traffic control network. At the same time, CO2 emissions will fall and the traffic flow can be distributed more evenly over the road network via route recommendations. 

“These existing examples suggest that the situation on UK roads does not necessarily have to remain at an unsatisfactory level. We have the tools to resolve the challenges and we can create a more sustainable path to a better future,” says Steve Parsons.