I recently attended a tradeshow on Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). This is an emerging field that has the potential to make a huge impact on how traffic is managed and how transportation impacts the environment.

Traditional traffic management is about moving from place to place, ideally as quickly as possible. That’s why there are freeway signs informing you of “congestion ahead” or letting you know the estimated amount of time to reach a particular off ramp. It’s also why there are intersection controls to control the flow of traffic.