To help make drivers more aware of traffic jams on roads and motorways, Viasuisse - the company responsible for reporting and broadcasting live traffic information on Swiss TV and radio - has announced that it will be using artificial intelligence to create forecasts for road delays in Switzerland. The technology will be able to analyse conditions in real time and inform motorists about what to expect on their journeys.
In a statement given to Blick, Viasuisse project manager Damian Nomura said “currently, Viasuisse editorial staff predict traffic jams based on experience and data.” In contrast, he anticipated that if provided with the right data, the new AI will be able to provide faster, more accurate traffic forecasts than humans.
To help the clever bot, the system will be fed live data on the weather, the number of cars on the road and the speed of traffic. Once enough data is collected, the system should be able to predict which sections of the road will be busy and at what time.
The company said that it hoped to offer AI traffic forecasts for a number of locations across Swiss cities and cantons by the end of this year. The forecasts themselves will be made available through an app for your mobile phone.
Once it is released, much like on Google Maps, Waze and other similar apps, the driver will be able to input the route they plan to take and the AI will provide a full and detailed forecast of what disruption to expect based on the route, time of day, weather and the current number of cars on the road. It is hoped that in the future this Swiss-specific system will be more accurate than its larger competitors.
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