Could Smart Traffic Lights Stop Motorists Fuming?
New Scientist (02/12/08) Glaskin, Max Romanian and U.S. researchers recently demonstrated in simulations that traffic lights that wirelessly track vehicles could speed up trips, reduce fuel consumption, and improve urban air quality. Such “smart” traffic lights could reduce the amount of time drivers spend waiting at intersections by more than 28 percent during rush hours. The researchers recorded peak traffic flow at a major intersection in Bucharest, Romania, and used the distributed computing lab at Rutgers University to model traffic flow. In the simulations, the traffic lights were given the position and speed of all vehicles on nearby roads, and were programmed to calculate how to phase color changes to optimize traffic flow. In addition to reducing waiting times, the researchers calculate that the improved traffic pattern could reduce CO2 emissions by 6.5 percent. Rutgers University researcher Liviu Iftode says that trip times, fuel consumption, and emissions could be further im
