How connected tech could fix roads

Oceans of data, AI-managed traffic signals and more autonomous cars on the road all have the potential to make our roads safer.

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Cars are full of sensors and automation that allow vehicles to change lanes or brake without the driver doing much at all. Navigation systems reveal exactly what's on the road ahead, offering global wayfinding. And roads themselves are full of smart systems to manage junctions, change speeds on the fly and so much more.

So why are we stuck in traffic all the time? London drivers lost 101 hours trapped in congestion in 2024, while across the UK more widely, traffic cost an average 62 hours annually, according to data from the transport analytics company INRIX. Road safety continues to be a challenge, too, with 1,633 people killed in accidents last year. Another 27,904 suffered serious injuries.

Some of this can't be solved with technology. No matter how many sensors you shove in an SUV, it's still going to hurt if the driver runs a red light and it T-bones your sedan. But there could be a critical role for technology. What if sensors, connectivity and AI could be cobbled together into a coherent system to manage roads to reduce traffic, improve safety and consider cyclists and pedestrians?

Better roads through data

The rise of sensors and ubiquitous connectivity means we have plenty of data available on how well the roads work now. “We have a machine driving around gathering massive amounts of data, but to increase road safety, something needs to be done with the data,” said Gregor Schley, urban mobility and data expert, BMW Group.

Mapbox acts as the cloud storage provider for a wide range of mobility apps, including Strava and BMW's navigation tools, as well as delivery logistics systems for firms such as DPD - all in, it adds up to 85 billion GPS locations across 700 million devices. “They're generating telemetry data,” said Geoff Clark, head of EMEA at Mapbox. “We use it to generate traffic data for navigation so we have the best route possible, the most efficient routes.”