Technology modifies driving habits, reduces congestion
Public-road testing scheduled for this summer
As city populations rise, traffic jams can become an increasingly lengthy and potentially dangerous problem. Though satellite-based real-time traffic data is now available for motorists to help navigate alternate routes, Honda Motor Company Ltd. is developing another kind of technology to help alleviate traffic congestion.
The new technology is based on Honda's research into how the acceleration and deceleration of one vehicle influences the traffic pattern of the vehicles behind. Using this information, Honda is working on a system that can monitor the acceleration and deceleration patterns of a vehicle to determine if the driver might be contributing to traffic congestion. Once the information is gathered, Honda’s system encourages the driver to adopt a less erratic driving style through the use of a colour-coded display and other relevant vehicle information. While undertaking this venture Honda partnered with the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Tokyo, and experimental testing of the new technology has yielded an approximate 23 percent improvement in average speed along motorways. For those vehicles that trail behind Honda’s test vehicles, fuel efficiency improved by approximately eight percent.
According to Honda, the positive effect of minimizing traffic congestion and improving fuel efficiency is increased by connecting a vehicle to cloud-based servers in order to inform the driver about the driving patterns of vehicles ahead. The vehicle can then activate its adaptive cruise control system to maintain a con- stant distance between the vehicles in front, again in a bid to minimize congestion and promote fuel efficiency.
Although this technology is currently in its development phase, Honda plans to bring it to market and public-road testing is sched- uled to begin in Italy and Indonesia this summer. Once the effectiveness of this technology to minimize traffic congestion is verified, it should be just a matter of time before consumers can take advantage of it during their daily commutes.