4 Key Application of IoT in Transportation Industry

Safety is the key priority and concern for all the people looking to buy a new vehicle, given the number of accidents on the road. Besides, the infotainment has been considered a priority too, in order to enhance the overall driving experience.

You will be shocked to see that:

• Globally, 1.5 million people die in roadside accidents in a single year
• If we talk about India only, accidents cause GDP to go down by 1-2%
• Road accidents result the global cost around $518 every year
• 20-50 million people become disabled or get injured in road accidents
• In 2019, more than 36,000 people died in auto accidents on U.S. roads according to NHTSA data.

Why do accidents happen?

The main reason is inappropriate driving and mechanical failures. Technology could not help in stopping people from avoiding drink and drive as much as the personal responsibility does. However, IoT technology can actually help us avoid mechanical failure so that accidents can be reduced significantly.

“According to the Traffic and Accidents Statistics in the USA, Mechanical failures are a factor in 12% to 13% of all auto accidents.”

Since the last few years, the automotive industry has considered driving safety, experience, and a lot of factors to meet a range of customer requirements and demands of today. The demands which are most common include innovations, resource utilization, product customization, safety requirements and cost-effective solutions.

1) Smart IoT Solutions for Transportation

The dynamism of various technologies has been present in our vehicle’s dashboards and interconnected applications, it hasn’t completely disrupted or impacted our view and use of private and public vehicle transportation. This is changing at a greater pace now. There are an increasing number of state governments globally who are encouraging the automotive industry to discover and digitize innovative ways to make the cities smarter and roads safer, all through custom IoT solutions and integration.

Let us have a look at some of the smart automotive solutions that are changing the face of the automotive and transportation industry.

2) Advanced Car Diagnostic Solution

To prevent mechanical failure, IoT powered car diagnostics in real time could be a blessing. Isn’t it amazing that your car can talk to you about its health? Using the IoT and Bluetooth/GPS, it is possible to fetch all the engine data and other data with the use of various sensors. The data fetching could be done through OBD-II port of all the cars manufactured after 1996. The data is transferred to a custom mobile app via bluetooth or GSM technology. Leveraging the prediction parameters, predictive maintenance could be achieved which can send notifications to the vehicle owners, to avoid accidents due to mechanical failure.

• Real time GPS tracking for analysing driving behavior
• Improved vehicle efficiency
• Pollution reduction
• Advance diagnosis to avoid malfunctions
• Improve vehicle protection and driver’s safety
• Predictive analysis to cut maintenance costs

3) Connected Vehicles

It will be surprising for you to know that by using V2V (Vehicle-to-Vehicle) technology and connected cars platform, 79% crashes can be potentially reduced, by exchanging information about location, speed and direction. Connected vehicle platform is a revolution in the automotive industry leveraging V2V technology that has allowed drivers to stay in touch with the world. A seamless integration of IoT client SDK into various vehicle hardware like OBD2 chips, sensors, ECU, steering, lights etc. while providing connectivity with excellent features.

• Cloud based infotainment
• Real-time weather information
• Smart driving assistance
• Smart route management
• Real-time updates to commuters
• Smart asset tracking system

4) Advanced Fleet Management

IoT led automotive solutions can help the fleet management businesses to save significant fleet maintenance costs. The businesses can also manage the fleets on the road efficiently, avoid the traffic congestions for efficient delivery, maintain mileage efficiency and more. The use of ECU data and algorithms can immediately unlock unlimited opportunities for the fleet owners. On demand taxi booking business gets a boost as the users will experience enhanced, faster rides to reach their destinations.

• Vehicle diagnostics and report
• Fleet tracking and monitoring in real-time
• Driving behaviour monitoring
• Fault code detection for advance breakdown prevention
• Fuel tracking with efficient mileage
• Real-time notifications to passengers

5) School Bus Tracking Solution

Busses or vans are the most common vehicles to pick up and drop off school kids. But there is an issue in this too. Because of the traffic uncertainties, parents have to wait longer periods of time till the van or a bus arrives at the pick up spots. It is highly inconvenient in this current time where all of us have super busy schedules. School bus tracking could be an IoT based solution, integrated with GPS-Geofence technology, that can help parents to receive notifications when the bus is within 2-3 miles (or kms), from a predefined pick-up/drop-off location.

• Real-time bus tracking for parents and school admin
• Custom kids tracking features
• Real-time notifications and alerts to drivers and parents
• RFID tags for kids onboarding alerts to parents
• Advanced route management

Summing it Up

Let me summarize the role, importance, and benefits of IoT technology for various purposes of transportation.

• Enhanced interaction between a man and the machine to determine vehicle’s health.
• Transportation becomes a lot more responsible, safe, efficient, and smart.
• Public commutation feels like more personalised
• Fleet management companies can cut operational costs and gain competitive advantage

IoT technology has the unlimited potential to make both- private and public transportation- more efficient, cleaner, and more comfortable for everyone using it.

How can IndiaNIC help you?

Since 1997, IndiaNIC has been offering the best end-to-end IoT application development services for automotive and transportation businesses. Our best practices in custom IoT solutions help in delivering top-notch deliverables to our global clients with quality beyond their expectations. If you fancy, get access to our expert team of IoT programmers and unlock the new possibilities for your business.

Jump on the bandwagon for IoT technology to transform the lives of millions! Contact IoT Experts for FREE App Consultation.