Transforming Ireland’s road network with AI-Powered data fusion

Ireland’s national roads network plays a critical role in the country’s economic growth, mobility, and quality of life. Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) is at the forefront of ensuring that this network operates at its highest efficiency while respecting environmental concerns. As part of this mission, Valerann is working with Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) and engineering consultant Roughan & O’Donovan to implement Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) to enhance real-time operational capabilities.

Two major arteries serving Dublin city, the M1 and the M6 acted as a prime testing ground for these advancements. The M1, which already had moderate coverage of ITS infrastructure for traffic tracking, intersects with the M50 Dublin Ring Road, which is Ireland’s busiest commuter route. The project also focused on the M6, further west with lower levels of ITS infrastructure coverage.

The Need for Innovation

For these major roadways throughout Ireland, TII acknowledged that future capacity improvements would need to come from optimized traffic operations rather than physical expansion. Over the past six years, the TII team has undertaken a strategic shift toward using data-driven ITS solutions to enhance roadway efficiency. To further this effort, TII partnered with Valerann to deploy our state-of-the-art data fusion platform—Lanternn by Valerann™ (LbV).

Unlocking the Full Potential of Data

Traditional ITS solutions have relied on fixed road infrastructure, such as cameras and sensors, to manage traffic. However, the rapid growth of connected vehicles, navigation applications, and social media has exponentially expanded the availability, and opportunities to utilize, real-time traffic data. The challenge lies in making sense of this vast and often cluttered data landscape.

Valerann’s LbV platform addresses this challenge by applying AI-powered data fusion, which seamlessly integrates multiple data sources — including floating car data, roadside sensors, and third-party inputs — to create a highly accurate and actionable traffic management solution. LbV ingests and analyses data from the existing roadside infrastructure, third-party sources, historical incident data and weather data to deliver a detailed real-time overview of the road traffic situation and an accurate prediction of potential road incidents.

The project team was tasked with meeting several key objectives for the Ireland Project. These included:

1. Reduce Detection Time – Enable faster incident detection with greater context, allowing for quicker validation and response.
2. Improve Detection Rates – Increase the number of identified incidents while reducing false positives.
3. Inform ITS Planning – Assess the impact of different ITS investments to enhance long-term infrastructure planning and decision-making.

Results & Findings: A Data-Driven Approach to Safer Roads

Valerann’s AI fusion technology has already delivered tangible results in improving traffic management and road safety. Key outcomes from the project include:

Faster Incident Detection:

• A multi-vehicle collision on the M1 Southbound was detected within one minute by Lanternn by Valerann^TM’s AI fusion system, condensing 134 notifications into one event. Significantly quicker compared to traditional systems available in the control room.
• 47% of incidents on the M1 were detected 25 minutes earlier when using data fusion compared to traditional methods used in the traffic management center.
• 65% of events on the M6 were detected 35 min faster using AI fusion.

Increased Detection of Actionable Events:

• An additional one (1) actionable event per day was identified using Lanternn’s AI-powered monitoring.
• If expanded across Ireland’s entire motorway network, this could scale up to 20 additional actionable events per day.

Enhanced Data Trust & Decision-Making:

• AI fusion successfully reduced data noise and created a single source of truth, ensuring traffic operators receive only the most relevant, high-confidence alerts.
• Integration of Waze and CCTV data proved particularly valuable, demonstrating the importance of leveraging diverse data sources for optimal network coverage.

The Future of Road Management in Ireland

TII’s collaboration with Valerann marks a significant step forward in the evolution of Ireland’s road network management. By harnessing AI-powered data fusion, TII is not only improving traffic flow and incident response, but also laying the groundwork for a more sustainable and efficient transportation system.

With continued investment in ITS and real-time data analytics, Ireland’s roads are becoming safer, smarter, and more responsive to the dynamic needs of commuters and freight operators alike. The project serves as a blueprint for future deployments, demonstrating how AI-driven solutions can transform road operations and set new benchmarks for global best practices in intelligent transportation.

As TII continues to embrace innovative technologies, the vision of a seamlessly integrated, data-driven road network is quickly becoming a reality—one where safety, efficiency, and sustainability drive the future of Irish transportation.