Skip to main content

Smart traffic management market potential is the global future

According to a new report from ABI Research, as the global population hurtles past the seven billion barrier, more and more people are living in cities than ever before. This is especially true of developing countries which account for 20 of the world’s 27 megacities. With above average levels of population and economic growth in these regions, traffic congestion has quickly ensued, which is detrimental to GDP, the environment, as well as health and safety. The new ABI Research report predicts that companie
July 20, 2012 Read time: 3 mins
RSSAccording to a new report from 6257 ABI Research, as the global population hurtles past the seven billion barrier, more and more people are living in cities than ever before. This is especially true of developing countries which account for 20 of the world’s 27 megacities. With above average levels of population and economic growth in these regions, traffic congestion has quickly ensued, which is detrimental to GDP, the environment, as well as health and safety. The new ABI Research report predicts that companies embracing multiple aspects of the modern smart city will be best placed to win contracts for advanced systems that better control, monitor, and manage traffic flows in emerging megacities.

Although congestion is also a problem in developed countries, it is a situation that has taken decades to build up, giving officials more time to address the problem. By comparison, developing cities are growing extremely quickly causing congestion to build up much more rapidly. Cities with serious aspirations of growth are being hamstrung by the relocation of major businesses to less congested areas. This, coupled with deterioration in air quality and associated health problems as well as more, often fatal, road collisions has caused authorities to look, increasingly, at investing in traffic management systems (TMS).

According to report author, Craig Foster, “one of the barriers to implementing these solutions is securing funding and for this reason, electronic toll collection (ETC) is likely to form the first stage of many TMS in order to bring in revenues that can be spent on more advanced systems at a later date.” Companies with ETC in their portfolios will therefore likely be the earliest beneficiaries. However, control and monitoring of traffic is increasingly seen as part of a wider “system of systems”. Foster continued: “disparate systems that control energy consumption, transport, health, waste management etc., will soon become connected and this means big business for those that are taking a more holistic approach to the smart city such as 3344 Telvent (3529 Schneider Electric), 1134 Siemens, 5366 IBM, and 6258 Cisco.”

“Traffic Management Solutions for Mega Cities” focuses on the issue of how best to address transportation challenges in megacities throughout developing regions. Various stakeholders are profiled with the analysis centred on how each is positioned to successfully meet the needs of emerging markets.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • HDR wins I-710 Corridor study
    March 14, 2012
    The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) has approved the selection of HDR to perform the I-710 Corridor Project North Utility study.
  • New guidelines to improve highway emergency response
    July 6, 2012
    New guidelines have been introduced to improve how the Highways Agency (HA) and emergency services work together. Under the guidelines, part of a Government strategy to reduce the US$1.5billion (£1bn) cost of motorway incidents, the police, fire and ambulance services and the HA have signed up to the CLEAR booklet - drawn up by Agency to tackle congestion caused by lane closures. Launched last year by Roads Minister Mike Penning, The CLEAR (Collision, Lead, Evaluate, Act, Reopen) initiative aims to get tra
  • Dubai to host the 18th IRF World Meeting & Exhibition planned for 2021
    February 10, 2020
    Dubai, one of the world’s iconic cities, has been designated to host the International Road Federation’s World Meeting & Exhibition on November 8th-11th, 2021.
  • Challenges of NMT in Nairobi, Dar es Salaam
    September 13, 2016
    Developing safety for non-motorised transport in East Africa - Shem Oirere writes. Despite increasing national budgetary allocations for the road sector in recent years, governments in East Africa have made very low investments in non-motorised transport (NMT). This is despite the fact that both Kenya and Uganda have recently passed a policy on pedestrian and cycling safety. In Kenya, the County government of Nairobi, the country’s capital, has embraced a NMT policy, while in Uganda the government has passe