Traffic congestion costs more than $300 billion each year in the U.S. alone, according to INRIX, due to lost productivity, increased transportation cost, wasted fuel and other factors. New smart city advancements aim to alleviate traffic congestion with the help of new technologies, including cellular connectivity, artificial intelligence, new sensors and connected vehicle technologies.

Imagine that a strong storm sweeps through a city and high winds knock traffic signals down from wires and off poles. In addition to creating unsafe driving conditions, these outages can slow emergency response efforts and require emergency personnel to direct traffic when their services might be needed elsewhere. These side effects can quickly add up in cost and social impact.

Imagine that you’re merging onto the highway and your vehicle suddenly takes care of the driving. The car accelerates to fit bumper-to-bumper with a group of vehicles traveling at a fast speed. You’re free to make the most of your commute without worrying about sudden congestion or other dangers of highway driving.

Imagine driving down a street and your car suddenly brakes. You didn’t notice, but a pedestrian was running across the road and passed right in front of your vehicle. Technology in the pedestrian's pocket communicated with your vehicle to stop it in time, and what once could have been yet another traffic fatality became a minor inconvenience.

Bryan Mulligan, President of Applied Information, Inc., was recently interviewed by host Mike Strawn on his radio show Case and Point. During the interview, Mulligan shared his thoughts on the transportation industry and the significant role that technology continues to play in the advancement of safety and efficiency.