AI will probably very useful in optimizing traffic. Saving 2 minutes per person, multiplied by a million is 33,000 hours for a city of lost productivity.
With the number of badly timed traffic lights, I welcome this. DOT’s only want to expand their reach and add lights at every turn.
An excellent project for AI.
Or AI decides all those stop lights need to go green at the same time…ouch
It could be more effective if it had Cameras and could see the traffic volumes (and your license plates of course)
One of the more frequent term projects at my local university is an optimization study of traffic lights. Students collect and analyze data and propose optimizations to the local city council which refuses to act on the data due to opposition from businesses. These businesses do not want smooth and efficient traffic flow. They want to slow traffic down so they will get more customers.
Not to make your commute easier. Not to reduce frustration and road rage. Not to save you money. Not to reduce urban hydrocarbon pollution.
Nope. To save a billion tons of carbon. That's the ticket, baby. Nothing else matters.
So I doubt any "data" Big Evil Google says.
All they have to do is get rid of the stupid medians everywhere and put back in the suicide lanes. I hate having to drive a block to do a U-turn and come back. Also hate paying for all that concrete work, and water for the plants and the maintenance cost which they never seem to do.
Will never fly in the US. Eco nazis run the show and this contradicts their goal of making driving as painful as possible because everyone’s supposed to be on a bike or walking.
In this day and age they could cameras at stop lights and along with some programing to prevent lights from forcing people to sit idle at and intersection for no reason. They can’t even produce that.
Google’s AI will of course have access to facial recognition software and automotive registry information so that soon we’ll be just like China - they can track individuals throughout the day 24/7.
What happened to synchronized lights? One city near me claimed that if you drove 2 mph below the speed limit you would hit a green on every light on the main east-west road through it. I think local businesses complained because they liked the stop and go traffic.
I know its to reduce emissions but I read it makes getting through town faster. I approve.