Why not let AI manage traffic? -Governance Now

Why not let AI manage traffic?

It's doable in the near future, though more computing power than we have now will be required

SB Easwaran | January 7, 2019 | Delhi

#coding #traffic signal #traffic #AI #algorithm

Illustration: Ashish Asthana

In a J.G. Ballard short story called *The Subliminal Man*, the expressways have rubber studs, spaced progressively apart in the lanes for 40, 50, 60, and 70 miles per hour. The tyre treads and the studs intermesh to produce a smooth hum only if the vehicle moves at the exact lane speed. Driving faster or slower causes severe juddering, painful to the driver and passengers and harmful to the vehicle. The idea is high on wow quotient. But it belongs in the sci-fi imagination of the electromechanical 1960s.

Today, it is not impossible to imagine artificial intelligence as the overarching means by which traffic will be managed in the future. With digital sensors, governors, and GPS systems on all vehicles and roads, self-learning algorithms would process and respond to each situation. The vehicles, of course, would be self-driving. Futurists will agree this can easily be achieved. What's lacking is the enormous processing power required. Quantum computing could well make it available before the end of the 21st century.

Think

AI-based self-learning algorithms are already helping stock-brokers make money
. . .
It’s doable in the near future, though more computing power than we have now will be required
. . .
One of the biggest pains of city life will be alleviated

In a very broad sense and on a very small scale, aggregator services like Uber are already managing a pool of vehicles, handling payments, cab availability, rates per kilometre at different times of the day and different traffic flows. A similar process could easily be implemented in a small town. The traffic lights and CCTV cameras could be integrated into the system. Some amount of behaviour tracking to predict busy zones, traffic jams, risky drivers, and so on is to be accepted and allowed. If only to make for comfortable navigation and painless, economical, safer transport.

Indeed, the benefits could be many, even without driverless cars. There would hardly be any accidents. And if they happen, tracking systems would provide the evidence to determine the cause and who erred. Fines would be immediately deducted. Small penalties, such as withholding of parking rights, would be unerringly assigned. We would still need courts for awarding jail terms and suspension of licences for serious offences like drunken driving. But the details available to the court, the defence, and the prosecution would be flawless and of far greater forensic value.

By letting artificial intelligence manage traffic in small towns to begin with, we could prepare ourselves for a future of driverless cars and fully integrated city management systems. The smart cities that the government is pushing for might be good places to begin with. Equally, traffic in ultramodern business districts like the GIFT city near Gandhinagar, where eventually thousands of businesses will set up office in high-rises, could be managed using artificial intelligence. The immense amount of data these experiments generate can be analysed for behaviour trends and extrapolated to plan for growth.

Reality check

People are still beginning to adjust to the idea of artificial intelligence handling important aspects of their life, so few would be willing to submit traffic management altogether to lengths of code. There are aspects of privacy too, for people still don't want their behaviour recorded, even anonymously, whatever larger benefits that may bring about.

(This article appears in January 15, 2019 edition)

Comments

Other News

MDR on UPI: Can sustainability come without weakening the network?

The extraordinary transaction volumes and value (₹29.82 Lakh crore in August 2026 alone) of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) have made it not only an Indian success story, but a global one. In 2024, UPI accounted for nearly 49% of the world’s real-time payment transaction volume, with more th

The Xi-Trump summit: The unending rivalry

Diplomacy is akin to an art, wherein the summitry, conflict resolution and negotiations form apt constituents of the entire context of deal making and “playing for keeps” in the international arena. The Xi-Trump summit in Washington last week, in which the American president broke all conside

“Indians, yet treated like outsiders”

Moving to Delhi-NCR for education can be an exciting experience for students from Northeast India. It gives us a chance to meet new people, experience a different culture and become more independent. But living away from home also comes with challenges that people who have not experienced them may not al

Import duty on major edible oils cut

The government has reduced the Basic Customs Duty (BCD) on major imported crude edible oils with a view to moderating domestic edible oil prices, providing relief to consumers and mitigating inflationary pressures arising from the sharp increase in international edible oil prices.

From pyramid to platform: BRICS agenda for Global South

In his opening address at the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi on September 12, prime minister Narendra Modi did something India`s diplomacy has been building towards for three years: he moved the ‘Voice of the Global South’ from a slogan to a work plan. Addressing the leaders, he argued that t

How to realise the full transformative potential of PM-JAY

The Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY), a welfare scheme which covers approximately 45 crore beneficiaries across India, provides cashless health cover of Rs. 5 lakh per family per year. It is the largest health insurance scheme which helped crores of poor families by reducing out-of-pocket expend