IoT in Transportation: Driving Efficiency and Safety on the Road

The Internet of Things (IoT) has now emerged as a revolution in many fields and transport is one of them. Because IoT links the automobiles, structures, and the folks traveling in them to a myriad of sensors and data, it’s transforming the way society transports people and commodities. This paper considers the use of IoT in vehicles’ transportation system to ascertain how it promotes efficiency and safety on the roads.

 

 Enhancing Efficiency with IoT

 The advancement of technology in IoT in transportation has greatly contributed into the enhancement of its efficiency. This is because IoT makes it possible to monitor and manage vehicles in real time, which results in greater efficiency in covering the various areas with vehicles and less consumption of fuel, and proper utilization of the available resources.

 

 Fleet Management

 The management of an extensive fleet of vehicles is likely to present issues to the organizations in the logistics and transportation industry. IoT has the advantage of supplying instant information concerning location, speed, fuel level, and behavior pattern in the vehicles. This means that fleet managers have sufficient information to determine the best routes to take, how to schedule themselves and when it is time to have their vehicles overhauled. For instance, the system has the capability of identifying a vehicle that is low on fuel or calls for servicing and thus, can reroute the said vehicle to the nearest service station, thereby reducing on downtime and preventing occurrences of other eventualities.

 

 Smart Traffic Management

 Thus, IoT becomes very important in the application of intelligent traffic management systems. Here, ‘smart’ cities gather data from cars on the roads as well as from surrounding structures to determine traffic patterns and the probability of traffic jams, and even control signalization in real time. This results in congestion free traffic flow, and thus reductions in the time people spend on the road and emissions. Also, IoT can be used in quickly reporting and responding to traffic events with the least interferences of other people.

 

 Predictive Maintenance

 Therefore, the integration of IoT with predictive maintenance act as a game changer in the transportation industry. Components fitted in cars can be fitted with sensors; the condition of these components including engines, brakes, and tires can hence be recorded consecutively. This kind of data lets certain factors that may need maintenance to be identified before a failure is experienced. This do not only increases the life span of vehicles but at the same time it also help in the prevention of accidental occurrences due to mechanical faults.

 

 Enhancing Safety with IoT

 Security is always of high concern globally in the transport sector, and IoT is helping become a major contributor to the improvement of the same. Through the use of real-time data and analytical tools, IoT assists in the reduction of accidents and provides passengers’ safety and compliance with safety standards.

 

 Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) Communication

 V2X or vehicle to everything is one of the most promising IoT related application for transportation. V2X can be V2V, V2I, V2P, and V2 everything else, where the last remains the most unexplored and, in fact, the most promising. It will allow all the cars on the road to communicate to each other such information as speed, position and direction to avoid accidents. For instance, if a car approaching an intersection where there is a traffic light, the car will be able to collect information from the traffic light and perhaps from other vehicles around it to know if it is safe to proceed or not.

 

Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS)

 IoT is also improving features of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) that are used with the aim of increasing safety for drivers. ADAS systems have advanced sensors and cameras that are aimed at observing the vehicle’s environment and informing the driver on the occurred events. IoT – extends this notion further by making such systems capable of interacting with other automobiles and the surroundings. For instance, if a car in front stops unexpectedly, the IoT-based ADAS system can send signals to the driver encouraging him or her to apply the brakes, and this can be done by applying the brakes too.

 

 Telematics and Driver Monitoring

 Regarding IoT in transportation the following concerns are part of it such as telematics and driver monitoring systems that are crucial for correct behavior on roads. Telematics systems track a variety of aspects relating to the driver such as speed, aggressive braking, and compliance to the road laws. Such data may be used to give drivers feedback, to promote safer driving, to reward good behavior, to measure and set insurance premiums among others. Further, IoT can observe, the degree of fatigue of the driver through data such as the angle at which the wheel is being steered, movement of the driver’s eye and if the driver is showing signs of dozing off, it will be warned.

 

The Future of IoT in Transportation

 Thus, if in the current state IoT is already influencing the transportation industry, one should only imagine how it will develop in the future. The development of IoT with other trending technologies such as 5G, artificial intelligence (AI), self-driving cars, and others will ensure more efficiency and reliability of transport infrastructures by diagnosing these systems’ health and managing their performance. For instance, while 5G will significantly improve the performance of the communications between connected devices, AI can help to analyse large amount of data to improve traffic control and vehicle efficiency.

 

 IoT is the future of Self-Driving cars or Self-Powered vehicles which are the next generation transportation systems. These vehicles will rely on IoT to make a decision on the routes to be taken and any changes that will be needed to be made as well as for communication and then finally rely on IoT to avoid incidences that may lead to accidents to Happen. When incorporating IoT elements with self-driving cars there exists a possibility of enhancing the traffic system by creating safer roads.

 

 Conclusion

 Today, it is possible to safely say that thanks to such a concept as the Internet of Things, or at least its application to transport, our roads are becoming safer and more efficient. It is also becoming apparent in the way people drive or are driven by using IoT from fleet management to smart traffic systems to advance safety features. Thus, the part of IoT in the transport sector will grow in the future along with the development of technologies with the help of which cars will turn into smart ones.