Seriously Smart Transportation

Anyone who has found themselves stuck at the Grady Curve, parked on 400 trying to leave Alpharetta, tangled up at Spaghetti Junction, or lost time in traffic running a simple errand that took longer than normal thanks to a flattened rush hour, knows that metro Atlanta has a traffic problem.

In cities dominated by cars, Metro Atlanta has long stood out as particularly car-centric for all the wrong reasons — sprawl, limited transit, lack of affordable housing near job centers. But all that is changing.

In 2020, the Atlanta Regional Commission updated its Transportation Systems Management and Operations Strategic Plan to focus on applying technology-based tools to move people and goods, rather than moving traffic or vehicles, making higher-occupancy modes such as transit a priority.

Let’s take a look at some of the many smart changes happening around the region.

But first, what exactly is smart transportation?

In short, it’s about using technology to make it easier, safer and more sustainable to move people and goods around.

Today’s smart or “connected” vehicles are built with integrated wireless technology (known as Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything, or C-V2X) that allows them to communicate with the internet, other vehicles and the things around them, such as traffic lights, toll booths and other external devices. More than half of all new cars sold are connected, and that number’s expected to grow to 95% over the next five years.

Why it matters:

In a word, safety. Connected vehicles can do more than stream your music or remind you to buckle up. They also make driving safer and easier with basic alerts that warn of lane drift, sudden braking to avoid a collision, blind spot monitoring, automated lights and even feedback on the vehicle health and overall driving habits that can also help reduce insurance costs.

The technology also provides updates on weather, traffic conditions, work zones and crashes, which give drivers time to react to situations. When a vehicle is disabled, the alert is sent to a cloud platform managed by departments of transportation, who then send alerts to first responders and other drivers in the area — delivering emergency help sooner, preventing secondary accidents, and keeping roadways clear and running smoothly.

The result is a huge savings of time, money and lives. The U.S. Department of Transportation reports that C-V2X technology could reduce unimpaired vehicle crashes by 80%.

“There are many other states deploying C-V2X technology but none at the scale and pace of Georgia. The Georgia Department of Transportation is a national leader in this space.”

‒ Laura Chase, President and CEO of ITS America

Zoom in:

Georgia DOT is using technology to enhance the safety and efficiency of our roadways. The agency already has deployed connected vehicle technology at more than 1,200 signalized intersections and is currently equipping another 700 intersections across Clayton, Cobb, Fayette, Fulton, Gwinnett, and Henry counties as well hundreds of other locations along the interstates of Georgia. The effort is part of the agency’s 10-year plan to equip all signalized intersections on the state route system.

Why the focus on intersections? Communication with traffic lights helps reduce idling at intersections and can reduce emissions by up to 20 percent.

Laura Chace, President and CEO of ITS America, an advocate of connected vehicle technology, in a press release commended the Georgia DOT’s role as a leader in smart transportation, saying there are many other states deploying connected vehicle technology “but none at the scale and pace of Georgia.”

Safer streets for vulnerable road users

Transportation and tech leaders at Peachtree Corners’ Curiosity Lab, a publicly funded innovation lab, are looking at how wireless vehicle tech can make streets safer for bicyclists, pedestrians, road workers and others. The lab partnered with car manufacturer Audi and Spoke, a road safety firm, to test and refine their solutions in real-world scenarios.

Read more about the Curiosity Lab!

In Alpharetta, Audi partnered with intelligent transportation systems developer Applied Information and the Fulton County School District to improve school zone safety. Using connected-vehicle technology, the vehicle’s system:

Identifies school zones so drivers can reduce speeds
Warns drivers of a stopped bus
Reduces stop-arm violations
Detects the presence of children boarding/exiting buses.

Smart corridors let it flow.

The same connected vehicle technology is also being used to ease traffic congestion and give green light priority to certain vehicles such as first-responders and school buses.

Traffic signals equipped with sensors, thermal cameras and connected-vehicle technology can identify modes of travel (bicyclists, pedestrians and cars) to improve the safety of intersections as well as the timing of lights along key corridors, reducing idling and greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 20%.

On Downtown Atlanta’s North Avenue, a key corridor stretching from Northside Drive to Freedom Parkway, city leaders installed 26 signalized intersections that have helped improve travel time and reduced accidents by 25 percent.
Gwinnett County DOT is in the process of connecting all of its 750 traffic signals and 460-plus traffic control beacons to streamline traffic and maintenance. Digitized traffic control simplifies technology updates, sends malfunction alerts in real time and allows engineers to adjust light timings remotely, all while laying a foundation for more transportation technology upgrades.

But wait, there’s more!

Smart transportation goes beyond connected cars. The region has been making headlines for tons of advances in smart transportation, from electrification to cleantech solutions — and more.

EV leader – The state has attracted more than 36,000 new jobs and over $28 billion in investments in the electric vehicles and cleantech, including a $2.5 billion-plus lithium-ion battery plant in Coweta County and a Rivian EV factory in Morgan and Walton counties.

Charging stations – In January, the U.S. DOT awarded $6.1 million to ARC to expand the number of EV charging stations throughout the region. The effort supports the ARC’s Regional Transportation Electrification Plan to advance greener travel modes.

Funds will add 75-100 Level 2 charging stations to the 1,800-2,000 public charging stations around the metro area
Available at everyday locations (grocery stores, pharmacies, shopping centers, government service centers)
Electricity provided free of charge to consumers

Micromobility – Atlanta ranks 5th in the nation for dockless e-scooter rides. The City of Atlanta logged more than 2 million trips in 2023, a more than 30% jump from 2022 and the highest ridership level since the pandemic.

Driverless cars – Earlier this year, you may have spotted some strange cars with spinning sensors on their tops and bumpers cruising around. Waymo self-driving cars hit the streets of Atlanta to map and gather data on driving in the city. Uber and Waymo announced plans to bring autonomous ride-hailing services to Atlanta in early 2025.

Clean buses – Thanks to a $57 million federal grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, several metro Atlanta school districts will get electric school buses, including Clayton County Public Schools (100), DeKalb County (25) and Fulton County Schools (25).

MARTA launched three electric buses in 2022. A $19 million grant from the Inflation Reduction Act enabled the agency to purchase another 31 electric buses as well as charging equipment.

Every bus keeps at least 20 cars off the road, reducing congestion and emissions
MARTA aims to transition to a 100% zero-emission bus fleet by 2040

There’s an app for that!

Advances in technology, mapping and data sharing are making life easier for residents seeking to get from Point A to Point B without the hassles of driving, parking or spending money on gas.

ATL Rides – Launched last year, ATL Rides is a multimodal trip-planning app that consolidates information on routes from the region’s six transit agencies. The app delivers real time information on all routes, including bus and train arrival times, as well as fare costs for each trip.

MyGCO – For commuters, MyGCO is a real time trip-planning app that rewards them for taking clean trips to and from work. Users log trips to earn cash and prizes. Its ride-matching feature can connect them to nearby carpools and vanpools or find someone to bike, walk or take transit with, too.

Smart for business and employees.

While employees make their own choices about how to commute, the decisions you make around sustainable transportation as a business can have a huge impact on those choices. Here are a few ways corporations can reduce the number of single-occupancy vehicles to ease traffic congestion and improve air quality, while also ensuring travel safety and convenience.

Reduce your carbon footprint with flexible working policies
Make transit more affordable through commuter benefits
Expand travel options through carpooling programs

Georgia Commute Options — a program made possible by the Atlanta Regional Commission and Georgia Department of Transportation — works with employers at no cost to develop commuter programs that move the needle on air quality in the Atlanta region. Let’s discuss how we can help.