Traffic congestion and vehicle accidents plague cities around the world. A lack of ‘smart’ transportation management methods and regular road maintenance is to blame for many of these problems.

According to global ICT company Huawei, every year the economic losses caused by traffic congestion account for nearly 2% of the global GDP.

Huawei has teamed with its partners to introduce an innovative Smart Transportation Solution (ITS) for the commercial bus market. This first-of-its-kind system was launched in Africa at the recent i-Transport and UATP Conference and Exhibition in Johannesburg.

Alex Du, Managing Director of Huawei Enterprise South Africa, explains that the solution will assist bus operators to reduce maintenance costs and enable the offering of additional value-added services, while improving the overall travelling experience for passengers.

The innovative solution provides a variety of safety and security services including real-time bus health data analysis, in-bus video surveillance, accurate passenger tracking, and emergency services communication. This is achieved by enabling high-speed internet connectivity to buses.

The ITS solution for buses forms part of Huawei’s extensive intelligent transportation system ITS solutions offering, the major elements of which are:

• Comprehensive traffic sensing system (video surveillance, traffic direction, traffic signal control, and traffic flow data collection systems)
• Unified cloud traffic command platform
• Intelligent traffic incident evidence collection (An ePolice system collects and computerises accurate evidence of traffic violations)
• Real-time traffic emergency command

The ITS solution for buses is the first in Huawei’s ITS portfolio to be launched in South Africa. Other solutions will cater to taxis, trains, BRT and other forms of public transport.