Study: Road congestion costs South American cities billions

• Inter-American Development Bank advocates intelligent traffic management
• Just building new roads is a dead end policy

Santiago de Chile, Oct. 27, 2021 – A recent paper from the Inter-American Development Bank finds that South American cities are among the most congested cities in the world, costing cities like Sao Paulo over USD 2 billion per year. However, real time traffic management should be used as a game changer. The traffic management company Kapsch TrafficCom already uses smart technology in various countries to implement next generation solutions.

In the past, the main approach towards reducing congestion was to build new roads. But the IADB publication shows that this instead increases the number of vehicles on the road. Clearly, combatting congestion needs a smarter approach. That is why tools like connected mobility and real time traffic management should be used to improve traffic in the cities, according to the publication.

World´s smartest traffic managment in Melbourne

One highly innovative example of connected mobility is the AIMES project in Melbourne, Australia. By using Bluetooth connections to pedestrians, cyclists and drivers, sensors placed on buses, trams and trains as well as environmental sensors recording pollution and noise, the “Mobility Hub” developed by Kapsch TrafficCom connects, informs and guides traffic participants. The system, covering an inner city area of 6km², over 100km of roads and more than 70 intersections, is being called the “Smartest Traffic Management in the World” and ensures a smoother flow of traffic, reduces congestion and improves safety at the same time.

Buenos Aires guides traffic in real time

A recent example of a successful traffic management project is the EcoTrafix platform that Kapsch TrafficCom installed in Buenos Aires, Argentina. By implementing its innovative traffic management system, Kapsch TrafficCom integrated the city’s various traffic control technologies under one umbrella system and shifted traffic control from a reactive to proactive and collaborative traffic management. Now, Buenos Aires boasts a modern, state-of-the-art integrated control center that makes traffic management and communication between the various traffic agencies of the city easier and more efficient.

Solutions for all traffic stakeholders

“With today’s technology, we can guide the traffic on the road in a way that avoids unnecessary congestion and improves the traffic experience for all participants, from drivers to cyclists to pedestrians”, says Emilio Rivas, Executive Vice President at Kapsch TrafficCom Latin America, a globally renowned provider of solutions for sustainable mobility. “The key is to provide authorities with live, or even predictive, information and the right tools to guide traffic.”

This can be achieved through the Kapsch Predictive Analytics Module (PAM), which combines real-time traffic data with historical data to predict changing traffic conditions – both over the next 30 minutes, but also for a period of up to 10 days into the future. The solution draws on a number of relevant data sources, including GNSS data, data from roadside sensors, weather data, information about planned events in the locality, and more. This allows agencies to take preventative action before the situation worsens, improving the traffic experience for all stakeholders and reducing emissions at the same time.

“We are also making it even easier for road users to get where they’re going faster,” Rivas continues. “We are enabling road users to speed up their journeys and to reduce emissions associated with congestion.”

Innovative solutions like Kapsch Connected Driving help road users save time on every journey, while also reducing stress caused by delays and difficult driving conditions. Additionally, driving within recommended speed guidelines and ‘riding the green wave’ helps road users to save fuel, while also reducing wear and tear on their vehicles and tyres, and lowering related maintenance costs.

The IADB publication can be found here.

Innovation at Kapsch TrafficCom

Those are just some of the solutions and innovations we are working on at Kapsch TrafficCom. If you want to find out more, download our use case folder at innovation.kapsch.net and learn how we at Kapsch can help you to shape your city’s mobility.

Kapsch TrafficCom is a globally renowned provider of transportation solutions for sustainable mobility. Innovative solutions in the application fields of tolling, tolling services, traffic management and demand management contribute to a healthy world without congestion.

Kapsch has brought projects to fruition in more than 50 countries around the globe. With one-stop solutions, the company covers the entire value chain of customers, from components to design and implementation to the operation of systems.

As part of the Kapsch Group and headquartered in Vienna, Kapsch TrafficCom has subsidiaries and branches in more than 25 countries. It has been listed in the Prime Market segment of the Vienna Stock Exchange since 2007 (ticker symbol: KTCG). In its 2020/21 financial year, around 4,660 employees generated revenues of about EUR 500 million.

Want to drive sustainable mobility? We are hiring!