Intelligent traffic lights save motorists time and money

For the year, the average American spends about a week of pure time on the road.
Traffic jams and the resulting costs, in the form of fuel and a general drop in productivity, cost the large US cities $ 121 billion, i.e. equal to $ 800 per vehicle. Now, Pennsylvania IT has a new intelligent traffic management system that should help reduce traffic congestion, associated pollution and travel time.
“Each traffic light is part of a large network, allowing the flow of cars to move most efficiently,” said Stephen Smith, a computer scientist at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. A system called Smart Urban Traffic Control ( SURTRAC ) - allows individual traffic lights at intersections to adapt to changes in traffic in real time.


Video cameras located at intersections transmit information about the flux density to their neighbors. The technology that regulates the time between switching the traffic light signal, based on information received from other nodes, allows cars to pass with minimal delay.
“The system can be very responsive to things like traffic accidents or vehicle parking in the lanes for delivering and blocking traffic,” said Smith.
Analysis of the system at 9 pilot intersections showed a decrease in waiting time for a traffic light signal by 40% , a 26% reduction in travel time , and a 21% reduction in emissions . Urban Traffic Management plans to expand the pilot project at 45 intersections by the end of 2014.

Note translator: the cost of equipment of one such intersection is in the range of $ 50,000 to $ 75,000