West Midlands 5G’s Transport Programme Director, Chris Holmes, has been featured by Digital Leaders, discussing how 5G can unlock the future of smart transport – below outlines some of the key points of the challenge and how 5G can deliver more efficient network coverage.
To realise the ambition of smart cities we must fully commit to delivering powerful connectivity at scale. 5G may seem like an emerging technology, but the reality is that it’s already beginning to shape our towns and cities and one sector in particular that is benefitting from 5G’s capabilities is transport.
Smart connected transport includes driverless cars and vehicles – where 5G connectivity supports long range sensing, through to in vehicle signage – as well as sensing and connectivity. These applications create intelligence in the infrastructure such as connected traffic lights, smart street signs, smart lighting and smart parking to support our public transport services.
The Coronavirus pandemic has radically changed the needs of passengers and road users and we will inevitably see further changes as lockdown and social distancing rules continue to ease. We need public transport systems that are more agile and able to cope with social distancing and crowd management, and a way of operating that supports health and safety and helps urban regions meet critical emissions targets. 5G provides significantly faster, more efficient and reliable network coverage as well as the capability to host a greater number of devices.
Creating better transport networks means creating better connections for communities through jobs and employment opportunities, helping local people and making businesses thrive. 5G connected smart technologies are already playing a role in making transport better and more accessible for everyone and is helping make our cities smarter, allowing more tailoring of service and interface to improve the experience.
This will be critical in aiding transport providers and passengers make a safe return to a new, more agile and personalised transport system.