As traffic congestion in cities is becoming a major problem cities are turning to advanced technologies for traffic to improve road safety and reduce wasted energy. This can help to cut down on time for passengers and drivers as well as reduce emissions and reduce traffic congestion.
The technology behind it is built on hardware and software. The first is the component that executes, and the second is the command and control centre. Both are complemented by advanced processing and sensing technologies such as ANPR (automotive license plate recognition) that records information about vehicle movements and can detect traffic signs.
Depending on the solution, smart traffic lights can process data on a device or transfer it to a cloud-based location. The latter allows for more sophisticated modeling and analysis to reduce traffic congestion and coordinate the schedules of public transport. In this way, they can reduce the average travel time by 25%, reduce the wait times for signals by 40%, and lower emissions by 20 percent according to Carnegie Mellon University.
In addition to reducing traffic signals’ control delays, a smart traffic light system will also increase the flow of pedestrians and micromobility vehicles, such as electric scooters and ebikes. They are unable to adhere to the traditional traffic law regarding preemption of signals. In London for instance E-scooter crashes increased by 2800% in the first half of 2021, and so it is important to include them in traffic light control.
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