Driving Toward Sustainable Cities: The real, life-saving impacts of automated traffic enforcement
This is the fourth blog post in an ongoing series highlighting our commitment to the spirit of sustainable cities – those communities, companies, and leaders developing new processes and technologies to address environmental impacts, social equity, public safety, and transportation demands around the world.
How advanced technologies are improving public safety, reducing traffic fatalities, and optimizing roadways around the world
In 2022, more than 40,000 people died as a result of motor vehicle crashes in the United States, representing what U.S. Transportation officials refer to as a “national crisis of traffic deaths” on the nation’s roadways. Globally, the World Health Organization estimates that more than 1.3 million people have died as a result of vehicle crashes, and as many as 50 million people sustained non-fatal injuries that same year.
Transportation departments, state and local agencies, public safety organizations and law enforcement all work together to keep roadways safe and efficient. But complicated challenges — primarily limited funding, resources, and changing legislative priorities — often impede their ability to monitor and enforce road safety. Similarly, it’s often challenging to deploy a “one-size-fits-all” solution as different regions, municipalities and even roadways have varying, specific needs.
Curbing traffic fatalities and injuries
Modern roadway safety improvements increasingly rely on new advancements to save lives while improving costs and traffic flow. Automated traffic enforcement solutions, for example, detect violations, capture vehicle information, and verify data integrity and accuracy before sending a citation to the violator, helping cities enforce laws and reduce traffic-related incidents. Photo enforcement can be deployed in high-risk areas, including historically fast roadways and at red lights, work zones, school zones, residential streets and bus lanes.
Automated traffic enforcement applies video, photo, artificial intelligence, and analytics to streamline operations, curb unsafe driving behavior, and reduce the need for roadside enforcement by police officers while reducing the number of driving fatalities and injuries.
By leveraging these tools, transportation officials have significantly reduced accidents and traffic violations while improving overall road behavior. These technologies have resulted in 35% fewer deaths in cities with red-light cameras than those without.
Helping communities achieve Vision Zero goals
Vision Zero is a multi-national effort to end traffic-related fatalities and injuries while increasing safe, equitable mobility worldwide. First adopted in Sweden in the late 1990s, the initiative has led to fewer traffic deaths and injuries in the cities that have implemented its policies.
For communities and transportation agencies, automated traffic enforcement technology is instrumental to achieving Vision Zero goals and creating a safer environment for motorists, pedestrians, and cyclists.
Socially, automated enforcement can help prevent social bias, which is evident when comparing human-issued tickets to those captured by cameras. Automated enforcement can also act as a force multiplier – freeing communities to place officers into roles other than traffic patrol.
Automated traffic enforcement systems and solutions include:
- Red light enforcement
- School and work zone speed enforcement
- School bus stop-arm enforcement
- Bus-only lane enforcement
- Restricted lane and one-way enforcement
- Rail crossing enforcement
- Over-height vehicles enforcement
- High-occupancy vehicle enforcement
- Low emissions zone enforcement
- License plate recognition
- Block-the-Box enforcement
- Stop sign enforcement
Real-time data analysis
Automated traffic enforcement technology helps generate data to identify traffic patterns and areas of concern, freeing authorities to make informed decisions about infrastructure improvements and road safety methods. By identifying areas with high accident rates or frequent traffic violations, authorities can deploy targeted interventions, including road redesign, traffic signal optimization and signage.
Accelerate your Vision Zero goals
Conduent Transportation has more than 30 years of experience with automated traffic enforcement technology and assisting communities all around the world to improve road safety while advancing their Vision Zero commitments.
We recently partnered with a U.S. law enforcement agency to curb aggressive driving, ultimately resulting in a 78% average reduction in speed citations and 50% reduction in the number of vehicles exceeding the speed limit. Likewise, we deployed automated work zone enforcement to help the state of Maryland reduce the number of vehicles speeding through work zones by 90%.
Automated traffic enforcement technology serves as a valuable ally on the journey to safer roads around the world. By providing enhanced monitoring and enforcement data analysis, these technologies have proven to be a vital tool in making transportation safer for all.
Ready to enhance the safety of your community’s roadways while automating, streamlining, and optimizing your transportation operations? Learn more by visiting https://transportation.conduent.com/public-safety/.
