July 11 2015

The timing of this signal light is atrocious. Use 'Smart' traffic signal technology to correct the mistiming of all the lights in all of DC, please.

According to The Associated Press, a pilot project to incorporate traffic signal technology with artificial intelligence is currently being developed by Traffic21, a research program affiliated with Carnegie Mellon University.

The new technology functions similarly to adaptive signal control, a system of fiber optic video receivers that allow controllers to monitor and change traffic signals in real time to account for situational changes in traffic patterns. However, in the case of this study, the series of signals relay information to each other, changing the lights without the need for human operators.
A team comprised of multidisciplinary students and professors from the university, Traffic21 researchers use the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to test their fully integrated traffic strategies and designs. In the case of their adaptive traffic control system, the smart signals were installed at nine intersections in the city's congested East Liberty section to try to cut down on air pollution.

The results, the AP reported, were significant: motorists spent less time idling and more time moving, time spent stopped at the lights was reduced by 40 percent, and overall travel time was also decreased by 26 percent. This marked drop in wait time and decrease of wasted fossil fuels had a projected 21 percent reduction in the motor vehicular emissions that were tested.

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