ITS will provide important tools to minimize some of the causes of urban congestion. For example, highway accidents consume as much as one-third of highway capacity during rush hour. Advanced traffic and freeway management systems can adjust automatically to the dynamics of traffic flow such as adjusting traffic signals or providing alternative travel route information. The advent of the Internet, coupled with wireless communication, will allow this information to be at the driver's fingertips. The driver can then make better decisions on when to travel, what routes to take, and where to park.
Commuters can learn when the next bus is coming.
In more than 40 metropolitan areas across the United States, more accurate traffic information is now being provided to the traveling public on the Internet, television, radio, cellular telephones, and pagers. The new modern multilane highways have improved roadside safety, cut travel time in half, increased mobility, provided access to coastal urban centers, and promoted economic development in the central and western mountain regions.