A study conducted by researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) could help solve congestion problems without the need for expensive road pricing systems.

Named 'Roadrunner', the smart phone-enabled platform allows cars to 'talk' to each other on the move.

Speaking to The Straits Times, MIT PhD student Jason Gao said such a system could "monitor and control the number of vehicles in congested regions by itself".

"When a spot frees up in a congested region because a car is leaving that area, a RoadRunner token can be passed to another car so it can take its place," he added. "If a car cannot get a token, RoadRunner diverts it away from the congested region to an alternative route."

Mr. Gao claims that a 24-hour large scale simulation of real life traffic in the Orchard Road Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) cordon has proven that the system is more effective that the existing ERP system.