Here’s something that’s not shocking: You spend a lot of time in traffic. What’s shocking is just how much.

The Department of Transportation says people spend about 5.5 billion hours in traffic per year, racking up about $120 billion in lost time and cost, according to this NPR report, which says the congestion continues to mount in our fastest-growing areas.

That’s where Fybr can make a difference. The power of the Internet of Things is that we can truly use information to make lives better – and in Fybr’s case, that means we can all spend less time in traffic or circling to look for parking spots while we burn fuel. We can find spaces more quickly and come home to our families happier – no more banging on your steering wheel.

As the population increases, the forecast is for traffic on our roadways to increase by 23% to 28% in the next 30 years. But the DoT report also acknowledges that “improved parking information systems could improve traffic flows in urban areas” and that “congestion could be further reduced as cars spend less time searching for parking spaces.”

Fybr’s technology can be used to cut traffic by up to 30% in metropolitan areas – and in a much shorter time span than 30 years. You can see how it works here.

But it’s not just about parking. The DoT hits the nail on the head here: “Advances in data collection, computing, navigation systems, communication and mobile technologies, and robotics have the potential to dramatically change the way we travel and deliver goods and services.”

Expanding our nation’s infrastructure using the Internet of Things is an important step we can take right now. Fybr can be a big part of that by helping communities build their informational backbones. Once a network is there, we can gather info about everything from sewage to trash to public lighting and beyond.

By being better-informed about the world around us, we don’t just gain a better understanding – we can improve the quality of our lives and the quality of the world we live in.