With climate change comes uncertainty. We are no longer able to use historical climate as a predictor of future risk. With infrastructure now expected to last for 50 years or more, we need to pay close attention to how higher temperatures, as well as severe storms and flooding, will affect our transportation system. In many cases, this will come in the form of hardening future infrastructure and acknowledging where highways need to be addressed.
We have access to ever increasing data and are putting it to good use in several ways to design future highways. Data analytics can help us identify mobility patterns, causes of congestion, and will allow planners to identify solutions.
Traffic management can benefit from live data, allowing us to better facilitate real-time traffic monitoring and control. Data also allows us to identify and acknowledge practical driving alternatives when our main highways become congested. With a backlog in rehabilitation needs across the country and a rapid increase in technology, we need to be smarter, creative, and pragmatic as we design the infrastructure of the future.
The rise of Mobility as a Service (MaaS) has also been fueled by the data explosion. We will see more apps popping up that connect and coordinate these transportation options and payments in one place.
Data can also help us monitor the conditions of current infrastructure. By employing sensors, we can collect data that provides real-time conditions and determine the rate of deterioration. Unmanned aerial systems (UAS)—or drones—will be exceptionally helpful as they can reach locations not easily accessed.
In the long-term, we will seek to create an integrated transportation network to move people in a faster, safer and, more convenient fashion. By enhancing personal mobility while modernizing highways, we will seek to improve quality of life.
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ALLPLAN is part of the Nemetschek Group.