Top 6 Ways Technology Will Change the Transportation Industry This Year

New technologies are causing a major shift in how people view transportation. These are some of the ways technology will change the transportation industry.

by Max Lane

7 minute read

Transportation is in for a largely positive change this year and beyond, all thanks to the IoT. Indeed, transportation industry technology is in the midst of a revolution.

These transformative transportation technologies will influence our daily living in three major ways:

Safety
Accident prevention
Route planning

The following are the top seven ways technology will change the transportation industry this year:

#1: It’ll Make Commutes and Routes More Efficient

On top of keeping drivers safer, vehicles will feature data and sensors that will alert them of traffic on their routes. The high-tech features will help drivers navigate through the streets more efficiently.

Rolling your eyes because your fleet has GPS fitted already?

The IoT will take the present global position system to a whole new level.

Just imagine Waze on speed!

It will loop in traffic information from cars, trains, buses, traffic lights, and more to come up with a highly efficient driving space. By reducing crashes, the tech will do away with congestion that usually crowds the morning commute with looky-loos and fender benders.

#2: It’ll Help Manage Maintenance

Ever had low tire pressure, run out of gas, or forgotten to refill the oil? With connected vehicles, you won’t have to remember such things. By connecting the vehicle’s diagnostic indicators to the internet of things, you’ll be able to receive alerts to air up, gas up, or fill up when the truck or vehicle needs it.

That’s not all!

Courtesy of the V2I component, the information will be shared with service stations, dealerships, and parts suppliers, thus allowing them to send you incentives and offers in real-time whenever they’re available, making maintenance even cheaper.

What’s more, an “in-flight” assistant can schedule an appointment if there’s a need for maintenance.

How much easier could vehicle maintenance get?

#3: It’ll make Driving Safer

The United States Department of Transportation is already collaborating with vehicle and device manufacturers to adequately equip cars with modern tech to proficiently communicate with each other.

There’s more to this than just installation of high-end cameras.

Vehicles will have sensors that boast the ability to detect activities—including those that are outside of a vehicle’s vantage point.

For instance, when a vehicle is about to cross into a wrong lane or run a red light, the sensors will notify other nearby drivers in real-time.

This new technology could be of great help to drastically reduce the number of accidents on the road.

According to estimates, vehicle connectivity could mitigate crashes by close to 80%.

Just imagine how much this connectivity could accomplish if it were able to sense every time a driver was impaired or asleep.

#4: (MaaS) Mobility-as-a-Service

MaaS will improve the user experience. Also known as TaaS (Transportation-as-a-Service), MaaS simply refers to the shift towards mobility solutions that people consume as a service (read ridesharing services such as Lyft or Uber), as opposed to personal-owned modes of transportation.

In 2020 and beyond, there will be a broader use of this amazing service across various modes of transportation, thus offering user seamless experiences.

#5: Machine Learning (M.L.) and Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) to Become Widespread

Machine learning and artificial intelligence will solidify their roles when it comes to the connected transportation space. Just like in many other industries, M.L. and A.I. will find their way into the transportation industry to enable better automation and predictive analytics, leading to better overall decision-making.

With M.L. and A.I., it will be possible to predict when to deploy snowplows, tow trucks, and emergency response vehicles, which will contribute to making highways and roads safer and more efficient.

For instance, by analyzing and aggregating historical and current weather, traffic data, and microclimate information, transportation agencies will be able to preemptively deploy salt trucks to the roadways, which often ice over before they start to freeze. Alternatively, they can predict and warn drivers when fog is likely to appear—including on the hyper-local sections of roadways.

Such types of predictive analysis and decisions powered by M.L. and A.I. will enable transportation to move more efficiently, with fewer disruptions. It guarantees lower costs and safer travel.

#6: Governments and Transportation Agencies to Expand Partner Ecosystems

Transportation agencies and governments will expand their collaborations to not only create new internal roles but also drive greater adoption of connected tech.

More implementers of transportation I.T. are discovering that it’s almost impossible to pursue projects alone. Consequently, they’ll bring new partners, such as third-party vendors, systems integrators, academia, and consultants, to create high-end teams capable of effectively deploying technologies.

Conclusion

New technologies are causing a major shift in how people view transportation. Even minor changes to the current transportation methods have a considerable impact on the future.

By the end of 2020, automobiles will be among the top connected devices. There’s a possibility for companies to take advantage of the internet of things in vehicles to rake in customer services from offers that are location-based to services as widespread as personal health monitoring.

The above are some of the ways technology will change the transportation industry this year and beyond.

Now it’s high time you think about how you can incorporate information technology into your services and be part of the revolutionary changes coming in this new decade. JMARK can help you achieve your desired results in regards to transportation tech.