Benefits

Environment

In the United States alone, traffic congestion leads to 4.2 billion hours in extra travel time and an extra 2.9 billion gallons of fuel burned, for a total congestion cost of $78 billion a year, according to the Texas Transportation Institute’s (TTI’s) Urban Mobility Report. Fuel saved due to improvements in traffic flow avoids the emission of carbons, as well as several other categories of pollutants. According to TTI, 0.65 gallons of gasoline are consumed per hour of travel delay (a weighted average across large metro areas).

The bottom line benefits of technologies that help us reduce fuel consumption are cleaner air and water, and a more balanced planetary ecosystem.

IntelliDriveSM applications are designed to enable transportation agencies to manage system operations more efficiently, to save fuel and reduce environmental impact. For example:

  • Data generated from IntelliDriveSM systems can provide traffic management centers with detailed, real-time data on traffic flow, speeds, and other vehicle conditions. This information can be used to optimize the operation of ramp meters, saving an estimated 1.2 million gallons of fuel a year at full deployment, valued at $2.8 million. The fuel savings represent just over 11,000 tons of CO2 emissions avoided per year.1
  • IntelliDriveSM data can enable agencies to improve signal timing, resulting in approximately 1.7 million hours of delay reduction, 1.1 million gallons of gasoline saved, and 9,600 tons of CO2 emissions avoided per year once full deployment is reached.2

Providing consumers with real-time information about traffic congestion and other travel conditions helps them make more informed decisions that can reduce the environmental impact of their trip. Informed travelers may decide to avoid congestion by taking alternate routes or public transit, or by rescheduling their trip — all of which can make their trip more fuel-efficient and eco-friendly.





  1. Vehicle-Infrastructure Integration Benefit Cost Analysis, Version 2.3 | HTML, prepared for U.S. Department of Transportation by the Volpe National Transportation Center, 2008.
  2. Ibid.