(Continued from Jan. 13, 2021 issue)
ASIDE from that, the National Mapping and Resource Information Agency (NAMRIA) is also supposed to have their digital maps that would also show these thoroughfares. Add to that the digital maps of Waze and Google.
By the way, the latter now also includes Google Street View. All told, we have access to more than enough digital maps that we could use to analyze and plan the proper management of our traffic flows. Aside from having GIS, Waze also has Global Positioning Systems that are satellite based.
Many years ago, the government used to have some cables on the streets that were supposed to measure the traffic density, presumably with some crude sensors or detectors. That has all disappeared now, but nowadays the same results could be done using satellite data.
Do not be surprised, but the same technology to track the migration patterns of tuna could be used to track the movement of vehicles. That is possible because the vehicles also emit thermal patterns just like the tuna. One way or the other, the same density data could also be gathered using the vast network of CCTVs that are now all over Metro Manila. It is however necessary to replace these CCTVs with webcams that are Internet Protocol (IP) based, so that the data will become digital.
Once the data are collected using one method or the other, all the Big Data could go into the Internet Cloud where Data Analytics could be used to process it into useful Business Intelligence (BI).
Once the data are collected and processed, there are so many other technologies that could be used to produce the outcomes that we want among these technologies are Artificial Intelligence (AI), Virtual Reality (VR) and fuzzy logic.
All these may sound too high tech for most people, but the fact is, there are many other simple technologies that could be used to make the flow of traffic faster, in pursuit of the goal of smart commuting. Add to that plain and simple scheduling using mobile apps, and geo-tagging to prevent vehicles from straying into prohibited lanes.
Back to the subject of scheduling, many cities abroad have synchronized the schedules of their trains and buses. As it is now, we already have train schedules and all we need to do is to put our bus schedules in place.
What is important is to make everyone aware of these schedules, but that is not too difficult to do that nowadays because of mobile apps and social media. Other than scheduling, there are other low tech solutions such as having stricter emissions tests and safety tests, and stricter drivers test.
In particular, there should be separate tests for professional drivers that should also include psychiatric tests. The lesser maniacs we have on our roads, the faster the traffic will flow./PN
