No, we haven’t tried everything to reduce traffic jams. At least that’s what scientists at Google Research think, who have developed an innovative technology that could be a game changer.
Act on traffic lights
This initiative, called Project Green Light, focuses primarily on traffic lights. In addition to the daily nuisance for motorists, we know that traffic congestion also plays a significant role in climate change and is therefore an interesting area for development. Researchers from the Mountain View firm also estimate that with millions of traffic lights in the world, the scale of the problem and the prospects for improvement are considerable.
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An AI concocted by them is therefore put to use. It uses traffic data from Google Maps to guide local decision-makers in their choices. For example, the tool can suggest reducing the duration of a green light by a few seconds during off-peak periods or better synchronizing certain intersections.
This innovation is particularly praised for its ease of use. Google estimates that this project could reduce the number of stops and starts by 30% and emissions at intersections by 10%.
Large cities seduced by this technology
Alon Harris, Green Light Program Manager, comments: “In order to have a positive impact on the climate, we want to be able to deploy high-quality Green Light recommendations in many cities around the world and adapt them quickly. Cities do not need to invest in dedicated software or hardware integrations.”.
He specifies: “We simply share our recommendations with the city, which evaluates them and takes the necessary measures.”The tool, whose test phase began in 2021, seems in any case to appeal to many large cities and is already being used in California (whose governor is banking heavily on AI to improve public service), but also in Boston, Rio de Janeiro, and Seattle.
Finally, let’s note that Google is not the only company to use AI to combat traffic jams. This technology is also used in France. For example, we can cite the case of SequoIA Analytics, a startup from the Sophia-Antipolis technology park near Nice that uses an innovative device to deal with traffic jams in Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur. To learn more about this innovation, don’t hesitate to read our dedicated article here.
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