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Quantum Computers Create Traffic Management System

Traffic in a modern city is the stuff of nightmare. Countless people and groups have tried over the years to come up with solutions to this bad dream, be it with the use of pen and paper or by asking for help from supercomputers. None of these ideas really worked.
VW and D-Wave working on quantum traffic management system 1 photo
Photo: Volkswagen
As the turn of the decade approaches, German carmaker Volkswagen says it might have found a solution, or at least part of it, thanks to the use of quantum computers. This, say the Germans, is a premiere in itself.

Volkswagen, together with quantum computing company D-Wave Systems, did not try to solve all the problems of modern traffic, but just a fraction of it, the one that would help public transportation organizations, taxi companies, and transport service providers better deploy their fleets and reduce waiting times for customers.

Using anonymized movement data taken from smartphones or transmitters in vehicles and a quantum algorithm, the two companies managed to create a traffic management system that works and could be scaled to suit the needs of any city.

How good it works it remains to be seen. Volkswagen plans to deploy the system for a test run in Barcelona, a city that already has an adequate database to be used by the algorithm. Telecommunications giant Orange and the data science specialist Teralytics will provide support.

“The next era of quantum computing is application development, and D-Wave has been focused on enabling practical quantum application development since day one,” said in a statement Bo Ewald, D-Wave president.

Volkswagen’s innovative work using D-Wave quantum computers to pursue applications in traffic optimization is an example of the real-world impact quantum computing can have on both business operations and people’s everyday lives.”

The German carmaker did not provide additional details about the technology, nor did it say how much time, fuel and money could be saved by using it.
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About the author: Daniel Patrascu
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Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies.
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