Getting each year worse and worse, Israeli road traffic is a real plague for the population. Accounting for approximately 25% of greenhouse gases in the road sector, congestion continues to increase. The concentration of population in the center of the country, the lack of development of public transportation and the slow pace of road construction do not help. Nowadays, a driver spends on average 3 days a year stuck in traffic. As a result, some startups have been looking for solutions to fight against these traffic jams, such as ITC.
Israel, the future of technology
Have you ever heard about the European Silicon Valley? Located in the Israeli coastal plain, the Silicon Wadi has been internationally recognized for over 20 years now. We find in it in particular some of the GAFAs (Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple) but also eBay, Siemens, or IBM, as well as many other startups.
Thanks to its technological advances and prowess, Israel has become the European leader in Artificial Intelligence and Cybertechnology. Often referred to as a “start-up nation,” Israel continues to make AI-related investments. According to a report from Start-Up Nation Central, they reached as high as a 37% increase in total capital raised in 2019.
According to valuations, 20% of total global cybersecurity investments are done in Israeli startups. This includes Intel, the world’s largest chipmaker, which bought Mobileye in 2017, and Moovit in 2020 for 15 billion each. A record for the country!
Intelligent Traffic Control (ITC), gives the green light
One day, Aharon Bruaner’s wife (the CEO) had to take their child to kindergarten, but she was late. Stuck at red lights, she couldn’t understand why the lights on the other side of the road were still green even though the lane was empty. That evening, as soon as she got home, she told her husband about her discontent. After that, he and his best friend, Dvir Kenig, an AI fan just like him, decided to look into the problem. And that’s where ITC was born in 2019.
ITC, kezako ?
Intelligent Traffic Control implements an AI-powered algorithm to fight traffic jams. ITC manages to prove mathematically that many traffic jams can be avoided if one intervenes early enough. As stated by CTO Dvir Kenig, the implementation of the system has reduced traffic congestion at several intersections by 30%. The company is building its massive expansion in Israel in dozens of locations. The company believes it will have 100 to 200 intersections in Israel by 2023. This will position it as a world leader and will be one of the largest traffic management projects in existence.
The company says it wants to tackle the scourge of traffic jams. Through their algorithms, measures traffic, predict congestion, and mitigate it through intelligent manipulation of traffic lights, well before traffic jams start to form. ITC also emphasizes public safety: “More than 40% of traffic accidents occur at intersections. By detecting potential collisions in real time and quickly calculating potential responses, we can prevent tens of thousands of deaths per year.”
And in the long term?
Although this technology is revolutionary, what will its real impact be? You will find below the list of the different promises attested by the ITC.
The evolution of this innovation remains to be followed, it could probably still surprise us in a few years. ITC is now widely deployed and manages over 300,000 vehicles per day. A solution that saves people millions of man-hours every week, in Israel, the United States, Europe, Brazil, and Australia.
I can’t say more than that, but in 2023 we will focus on the European and American markets.
Dvir Kenig
Co. Founder & CTO
It is likely that more and more cities will be interested in this product and will desire to acquire it. This is notably the case for China or even India spending several billion per year on traffic jams.
