A transportation technology company has developed an artificial intelligence (AI) system for enabling traffic managers to better prepare for special events happening within a city.

The EventFlow system from Siemens Mobility offers traffic managers data and predications arrived at via AI and machine learning algorithms about small to medium-sized events occurring in a city that could potentially disrupt regular traffic patterns and public transportation.

While large events such as concerts are generally planned with enough time to prepare for traffic surges, smaller events — such as the recent spate of Black Lives Matter protests happening around the world — are generally more impromptu. Likewise, these events might happen simultaneously with other smaller events, creating even larger traffic and transportation issues.

As such, EventFlow makes predictions about attendance at these events and offers this data to traffic planners along, with data about other factors such as weather and overlapping events that have the potential for disrupting traffic and public transportation, to better plan traffic patterns and change signage in advance.

Although concerts and similar events are less of a concern during the COVID-19 pandemic, the system also promises to enable traffic managers to better plan for and enforce social distancing efforts on public transportation, according to Siemens.