Could MIT’s RoadRunner be the answer to congestion we’ve been looking for all along?

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has come up with a new system called RoadRunner — an innovative system that hopes to improve traffic the world over.

The technology jumps traditional infrastructure like tollbooths and cameras by relying on mobile phones instead. With RoadRunner drivers’ internet-connected devices are used to provide alternate routes to help evade congestion.

According to PCB Design, when the system detects a particular route is crowded, RoadRunner generates driving directions to approaching cars that then recommends a different way to go.

In essence, it crowdsources information to better control the crowd.

The system uses virtual tokens to reward motorists driving into suggested areas. In other words, drivers venturing onto roads not crowded will be encouraged while those venturing onto crowded roads will receive none. If an authority wishes to penalise those, they can.

Today in Singapore, drivers with dashboard-mounted transponders are charged a toll for entering congested areas. The current Singaporean system relies on radio transmitters installed in gantries scattered around the city. By relying on handheld devices’ GPS signals, RooadRunner is said to much more cost-effective and heads better results.

Jason Gao, a graduate student in electrical engineering and computer science together with Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Li-Shiuan Peh, are responsible for RoadRunner.

“With our system, you can draw a polygon on the map and say, ‘I want this entire region to be controlled.’ You could do one thing for a month and test it out and then change it without having to dig up roads or rebuild gantries,” says Gao.

Maybe RoadRunner’s tech could even replace Gauteng’s e-tolls within the near future?

Image: Jonathan Kos-Read via Flickr.