AI 'key to safer and greener transport' 

Sarah McDonnell, left, and Layla McCoy from Dominican College, Griffith Avenue, Dublin 9 at the An Garda Síochána stand at TRA2024 where vehicles from the electric fleet are on display.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is key to creating a safer and greener transport system, experts at the Transport Research Arena (TRA) conference have said.

Industry leaders gathered at the RDS in Dublin for Europe’s biggest transport and mobility research event this week with AI and road safety at the forefront.

Experts from around the world shared their innovations and provided a glimpse of a future that could quickly become our new reality.

Many countries are already using AI technology to predict driving and traffic patterns, identify problem areas, and to provide solutions.

Most modern cars feature sensors which provide a lot of data in real time and this data has the potential to provide information on driver behaviour, to predict traffic, and to identify problem stretches of road or accident blackspots.

In the UK, an enforcement camera system called Acusensus, uses AI and camera systems on the road to detect whether a driver is holding their mobile phone and if they have their seatbelt fastened.

During a test on a busy road in England, the system detected almost 300 offences within the first three days - 117 using their mobile phone and 180 not wearing their seat belt.

The US recently launched an Intersection Safety Challenge which asks entrants to submit their concept for an AI-based system that would monitor intersections and identify road users, including pedestrians and cyclists, and use the data to determine whether or not there is about to be a crash.

Where it finds a collision is likely, it would then generate a warning which would be communicated to road users via signs or the connectivity in the vehicle.

Autonomous vehicles have been deployed successfully in some countries and a study by the Belgian Road Research Centre found it to be a viable alternative to more traditional forms of travel that offers opportunities for a safer traffic system.

Future Mobility Transport Ireland based in Shannon has been leading the way in Ireland for Autonomous Connected Electric Shared Vehicles (ACES).

These vehicles use technologies such as sensors, cameras, and AI algorithms to navigate roads and make driving decisions.

With Tesla set to unveil its Robotaxi in August, there are hopes that something similar in Ireland will not be far behind.

Cormac McKay of Aeravia believes that robotaxis would solve a multitude of issues on Irish roads including reducing incidents of drink/drug driving, and helping those in rural areas to more easily connect with their communities.

He also claims that one autonomous taxi would take the equivalent of 30 private cars off the road, helping to lower emissions and ease traffic congestion.