Ever found yourself stuck at a red light, drumming impatiently on your steering wheel, as the seconds tick by slowly? Well, you’re not alone. According to analytics company Inrix, an average driver in Seattle, over in the States, spends about 20 seconds waiting for each red light to turn green. Multiply that by the number of traffic lights and drivers, and we’re talking about a serious carbon footprint.
But what if I told you that Google’s AI is on a mission to make these traffic lights less annoying and more environmentally friendly?
Google has introduced AI software that is helping cities across four continents, including Seattle, Jakarta, Rio de Janeiro, and Hamburg, to optimise their traffic signals.
By analysing driving data from Google Maps, this project aims to reduce emissions from idling vehicles. So far, it has led to timing tweaks at 70 intersections, cutting as many as 30% of stops and 10% of emissions for 30 million cars a month.
The best part? Google’s traffic light system allows cities to work with their existing infrastructure, making it easier and less risky to adopt. And the company isn’t stopping there. It’s also expanding its fuel-efficient routing feature in Maps to India and Indonesia, and introducing flight-routing suggestions to air traffic controllers in Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and northwest Germany.
If it’s a big success, we could see this carried out all over the world. Next time you find yourself at a green light, cruising smoothly through the intersection, it might be thanks to Google’s AI for saving you those precious seconds… and helping to reduce our collective carbon footprint.
#GoogleAI #GreenTraffic #EcoFriendly
https://www.wired.com/story/googles-ai-traffic-lights-driving-annoying/