Honda’s public-road testing of it’s new traffic minimisation technology has proven that the technology is not only effective in delaying the development of congestion, but also improves fuel efficiency by more then 20%.
The public-road testing was conducted from September 2012 through February 2013 on a toll road in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Congestion is caused by the disorderly flow of traffic. Therefore, to minimise congestion, the driver of each vehicle needs to adjust their driving behaviour to match that of the surrounding traffic.
To help drivers do this, Honda developed a smartphone app which changes the colours of the smartphone display to help the user to check at a glance whether their driving is aligned with surrounding vehicles.
The app monitors the pattern of acceleration and deceleration, and determines if that pattern is likely to create traffic congestion, and if so, provides support to aligning driving to the surrounding vehicles.
In addition to minimising traffic congestion, this app is expected to improve the safety and fuel efficiency of the user’s vehicle, and other vehicles operating on the same roads.
Honda plans to add new functions to its traffic minimisation technology, including one that uses an on-board device to provide drivers with information about possible congested areas based on the actual amount of traffic and driving patterns.
To encourage widespread use of its technology for motorcycles and other types of vehicles, Honda says it will develop a function that supports riding/driving alignment through the use of audio and vibration alerts.
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