Transit leaders held the first Connected Car and Autonomous Vehicle Symposium Monday.
The event was put on by the University of Texas’ Data-Supported Transportation Operations and Planning program, which launched in 2013.
Representatives discussed how increasing wireless technology in cars can be used to make transportation more efficient.
For example, a car's sensor could detect less traction on the road caused by ice. That information would then be beamed to the Texas Department of Transportation, which could deploy its resources more quickly to treat the roadway or divert traffic altogether.
"Human error is generally about 90 percent or more of crashes. It would reduce the number of crashes, and I think that is a very, very tangible benefit,” Chandra Bhat with the University of Texas Center for Transportation Research said. “Of course, it would also help in terms of reducing delays, reducing congestion that we all face."
Representatives from TxDOT, National Instruments, 3M, Capital Metro and Samsung were among the attendees.
The University of Texas’ Center for Transportation Research says it believes benefits from connected cars are right around the corner.