Transportation Facilities｜What exactly is the “traffic brain”?

The Paper

Release time: 18-09-1711:35 Shanghai Oriental Newspaper Co., Ltd.

Currently, most of the "traffic brains" on the market The application is the traffic management business and its extensions. The name "Traffic Brain" rather than "Traffic Management Brain" may not be limited to the traffic management industry. However, under the existing government investment mechanism, starting from the traffic management business is a necessary survival choice. However, although the concept of "traffic brain" has been proposed for two years, the impression of the brain is still only a description of the cloud and wisdom that lacks substantial content. The public and social enterprises have little sense of it.

Traffic brain competes with existing traffic management practitioners for business and has been repeatedly criticized by the industry; on the other hand, the public is suspicious due to lack of experience. The two-sided attack has gradually made this concept a bubble. Even if media exposure continues to stimulate attention with new concepts and attracts more investment from city governments, it will be difficult to stop the bubble trend.

The many applications of Traffic Brain often use some cross-border nouns or packaged nouns, such as crowdsourcing data, narrowband Internet of Things, future transportation, urban computing, etc., which are quite showy and advertising. There are so many that it is difficult to understand and distinguish the various ideas it proposes. However, for local governments eager to innovate and change the face of their cities, these words can become a reason to invest.

What exactly these words are and what they are intended to do is not clear to everyone. Whether they are the realization of public policies, a commitment to public services, or a local traffic improvement measure. However, such worries will not lead to serious consequences. In the current context of lack of data disclosure, it is not difficult to finally publish some self-reported results and declare victory. However, if the transportation brain needs to develop healthily and avoid being a flash in the pan, it still needs to clearly understand what this concept is and what the people can get. Only in this way can the uneasy hearts of the government and enterprises be comforted, and the financial funds invested can be worthy of it.

What is the traffic brain?

Although each company will use many pages of PPT to describe what the traffic brain is, after listing big data analysis, measurement systems, artificial intelligence algorithms, traffic optimization command and other business areas, there is still no one organization Let’s use a simple and clear definition to explain what the traffic brain is.

Standing at the forefront of the industry, the PPTs introduced are more and more like cartoons to attract investment. Who is willing to explain it clearly in a few vernacular words? However, for serious engineers, they will always have doubts about things they do not understand, and they will also use Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) for comparison. We might as well take a look at how the intelligent transportation system explains things clearly in vernacular.

Pictures on the Internet introducing the traffic brain. Image source "Can Didi Traffic Brain with artificial intelligence once again subvert the future travel experience?" 》Geek Network (/ai/140360.html)

Definition of intelligent transportation system on Wiki

The more commonly used definition of intelligent transportation system is: an advanced service designed to Provide innovative services and applications related to multi-modal transportation and traffic management, allowing users to better understand the situation and obtain safer, more convenient and smarter transportation.

This definition is clear and concise. An intelligent transportation system is a service, but what is a transportation brain? Whether it is a system, service, software, advertising to attract government investment, or something else, there is a lack of clear information.

Traffic Brain uses the word transportation, and Intelligent Transportation System uses the word transportation. These two terms, which are easily confused by ordinary people, are the biggest difference between the two concepts. The difference between traffic and transportation, as a simple metaphor, transportation refers to "on the road", while transportation refers to services, including traffic that occurs on the road, as well as a series of services that connect transportation station hubs and customers who entrust passenger and freight transportation. process.

Therefore, no matter how many brilliant words the Traffic Brain uses, the expression in its name has to be curled up in the intelligent transportation system. When Internet companies are shouting about traffic brains, are they only focusing on the traffic light business and not noticing that what the people want is complete and comfortable transportation services (travel to work, school, etc.), and transportation matters are the responsibility of the traffic management and transportation management departments business.

The dividends from the traffic management and transportation management business have distorted the ambitions of Internet companies. In fact, the real hot spot is not in transportation, but in the transportation industry. Internet companies are obviously in the wrong spot.

In fact, it is not only the ambition that is misled, but also the specific business content. The root causes of various traffic phenomena, such as accidents and congestion, are not necessarily on the road, nor can they be substantially improved by means on the road. For example, if you have to cross the road more than ten times a day, in terms of the probability of exposure to dangerous spaces, no matter how perfect the measures are, the probability will come into play and the danger will be difficult to eradicate; for another example, there is no subway or punctual bus transportation. Services, driving will inevitably become a necessity for ordinary people. Any prohibition and restriction measures will cause confrontation and cannot reduce the number of people driving on the road. Can traffic brain’s artificial intelligence algorithms, traffic optimization command systems and other brilliant technologies truly solve or partially solve these problems?

The traffic management business is fat, and doing more jobs is the way to survive. However, if the traffic brain really wants to help solve traffic problems, rather than changing its name to an integrator and software vendor under the banner of Internet +, it must first answer the question "What is a traffic brain?"

What does Traffic Brain do and how to judge it?

Judging from the PPT, the traffic brain launched by various organizations is a hodgepodge of terms for information technology and intelligent transportation systems. Some university scholars have followed suit, making the terms used by Traffic Brain more academic and serious, making it difficult for government officials to distinguish between true and false.

However, if you talk about engineering technology so exaggeratedly, don’t you worry that you won’t be able to make something in the end? However, these PPTs do not provide judgment methods. Maybe everyone understands that once the judgment methods come out, the government will no longer be so willing to invest money; or maybe after the Transportation Brain takes the lead, it no longer belongs to the field of engineering technology, and there is no need for judgment methods. .

However, what the traffic brain is used for and how much it costs are still matters of concern to the people. How well it is done is also something that the government and taxpayers need to understand.

my country’s traditional evaluation method often uses a long list of data as a conclusion, leaving no trace of historical data or intermediate processes. For example, some media reported that the number of accidents in a certain place dropped by 20% from the previous year after adopting certain measures; or that people's satisfaction with traffic increased by 10%. This kind of evaluation method, even if a decimal point is added after the number, will inevitably make people suspicious. In the absence of real and effective public data, public trust is difficult to establish. Could it be that the brain also needs to use such judgment methods to meet the government’s investment final settlement?

Reliable judgment should have specific and feasible methods and real and credible data. For example, regarding the improvement of traffic lights, people will not believe it if they announce how much efficiency has been improved. However, the actual time spent on the road must be clearly and completely disclosed, and the people must feel that it is similar to their own experience. Various improvements in the transportation field are not intended for managers, but for users. What the traffic brain should do should not just be asked by managers, but should listen more humbly to the voices of the people.

Some exaggerated traffic brain applications, such as management systems that set up water sprays on the road to stop pedestrians who run red lights, or set up signs with satellite map displays at intersections to induce travel, these innovations are What are the things that people need? And does the government really need to invest in this way?

Transportation technology should be aimed at public services and commercial services. It is not the so-called cloud computing, artificial intelligence, big data, or future transportation. These terms are more like selling servers to undertake design business, which also shows that the proposers lack confidence. And real public services, whether they are called brains or intelligent transportation systems, are technologies that revolve around people's experience, whether they are safe, convenient, smooth and comfortable. The recognition of the user's individual experience is more important than the boasted data improvement.

Perhaps, the original proposal of the Traffic Brain was out of dissatisfaction with the existing transportation technology, which is in line with the expectations of the people. However, after one or two years, the common people still have no idea what kind of experience they have gained. If the Traffic Brain wants to be different from those outdated concepts, it might as well sort out some of the traffic issues that people are concerned about, and then tell everyone how far the Traffic Brain will improve it. Only in this way will the traffic brain be accepted by the people, otherwise, it will be just a feast hunting for government investment.

For example, whether intersection lights can really shorten the time on the way to work requires real before and after data comparison; or the bus arrival timetable can be checked in real time on the mobile phone to allow passengers to verify whether it is on time. ; Or sort out the paths of dump trucks and large trucks to make private car driving safer.

Traffic brain should essentially be a service, which can be a public service or a commercial service. It is a service that people or businesses are willing to pay for.

What is missing from the traffic brain?

Many transportation brains launched by various companies on the market (including transportation colleges of universities) lack professional understanding of the transportation field, and are driven by interests and lack economic considerations.

The traffic brains launched by various organizations focus too much on showing off new technologies, and also use many idioms, such as traveler information services and visual intelligent induction. However, in practical applications, there is an obvious lack of understanding of the connotation and denotation of these terms, as well as the background and service targets of these terms. Therefore, some jokes will be made, such as erecting a map display screen on the street to provide information services for travelers. However, drivers may not have time to look at traffic lights, other vehicles and pedestrians, so how can they have the time to carefully identify a map full of information? As for the map, aren't you afraid of causing traffic accidents?

Furthermore, Traffic Brain lacks precise goals and clear service targets.

The lack of precise goal appeal makes Traffic Brain more like a packaged deal. The goals proposed are too high and too beautiful to appear hollow, such as the promise to reduce congestion in the city by 10% or 20%. Before the meaning of the goal and the means of evaluation are not clear, this kind of goal is more like a promise to sell.

The traffic brain launched by some organizations may initially be just to promote cloud computing business, hoping to use cloud computing to drive the integration of government and public transportation data. However, if the government itself does not consciously take the initiative to sort out data from business and processes and improve public service capabilities, then cloud computing will have no effect. At most, it can only become the government's cloud archives, piling up some data that lacks vitality.

Last year, the "maximum one trip" government service commitment that was promoted from Zhejiang Province to the whole country has received frequent praise for its vehicle management and driver management businesses. Clear goals and clear service targets are the engines that guide the development of science and technology and make data full of vitality. Without these two clear traffic brains, all we can do is sell equipment software and sell PPT stories. Except for various institutions to make their own efforts, it is difficult for the people to benefit.

In terms of the nature of the service, there is not much difference between filling out forms on paper and filling out forms on mobile phones. The Internet can only help. The brain must have a soul, and the soul does not lie in Internet technology, but in understanding the real needs of various groups of people, various businesses, and the operating mechanisms of the government, and finding ways to solve problems.

In addition, the transportation brain lacks low-cost and sustainable ideas for the entire life cycle.

In the absence of precise service goals, it is impossible to talk about low cost and sustainability. Even if there are precise service goals, if it cannot pass the cost-benefit analysis, it should not be implemented as a traffic brain application. For example, if you invest tens of millions or even hundreds of millions to build a signaling system, you still need millions more to maintain it every year. If these investments are just to green-wave ambulances, fire trucks and other special vehicles that make hundreds of trips a year (green-wave refers to traffic lights that are all green and unimpeded), it can only be said that it is not cost-effective. It is better to transfer the money to education and medical care. The field is more substantial.

Accounting is the basis of engineering technology. The brain of transportation is still engineering technology. It is also necessary to calculate accounts throughout the life cycle and be optimistic about the government's money. Unfortunately, the public has never seen the traffic brain’s ledger, and even the traffic brain technical information of various companies does not mention the ledger.

Summary

Regarding the future of transportation brain, if we can treat government investment as our own bankbook and seriously think about how to serve the people instead of having a hunting mentality, it is still worth looking forward to Innovation. The current traffic problems in China have gradually formed. The current situation is that problems have arisen in the original knowledge system, otherwise the problems that should be solved would have been solved long ago. The existing structural problems of transportation knowledge require new forces to change. Even for laymen, there is the possibility of change.

The emergence of the Traffic Brain and the power behind it are a potential force that can change the status quo, which is why it is worth looking forward to.

However, the current traffic brains either lack confidence or are blindly confident, or they are positioned to cross-border, or they are Internet experts in the transportation industry, or they make a lot of promises that cannot be realized, and then declare themselves to have achieved them. Target. Although the Internet industry is young, these problems will inevitably be ridiculed by other industries.

With the power of these companies behind the Traffic Brain, if we can gather enough experienced professionals, we will have the opportunity to reconstruct transportation knowledge and use this new knowledge to serve the people and promote social efficiency. Live up to this era and live up to the government's investment. This is the ambition that the transportation brain should have.