How to make traffic lights more intelligent?

While waiting for the green light to rub the fire, you may be pointing to the steering wheel side with your fingers, while staring at the same red light so secretly complain.

To make Dr. Smith Steve say, this view is literally true.

He explained: "according to the regular traffic management system, you need to advance the timing system for pre programming. But the system will begin to install a good aging. And traffic signal lamp manufacturers traffic patterns and traffic has been in continuous change."

With the change of population and topography, the cost of re programming of a crossroads may take thousands of dollars, so many cities have simply not considered to do so. Those signals that get you stuck in a traffic jam may be out of date three five years ago.

The resulting inefficiencies will be extended to the overall economy. Traffic Research Institute of Texas A&M University, the city traffic report found that in 2011, the United States traffic congestion costs totaled $121 billion, while in 1982 was only $24 billion.

Smith wants to change the situation. He is not only a research professor at the Carnegie Mellon University, but also the boss of Surtrac, a start-up. The company is applying advanced artificial intelligence technology and planning to traffic management. Surtrac of intelligent traffic signal depends on advanced sensors and powerful data processing technology, every few seconds, rather than a few years time update a signal model, in order to respond to changes in traffic and accidents, such as traffic accidents or road closed. Since 2012, the company has carried out a pilot study at Pittsburgh's East liberty community.

Smith quickly pointed out that the concept of dynamic traffic signal is not his invention. Losangeles early in the preparation of the 1984 Olympic Games, traffic lights manufacturers will install the first dynamic traffic signal system, and now the system is called automatic traffic monitoring and control system". At present, the system is still through a powerful central computer to coordinate more than 4500 traffic lights. The computer uses less and less human resources to make timely decisions.

But Smith believes that centralized management is one of the weaknesses of the Losangeles system. In contrast, Surtrac makes its own traffic management decisions by each traffic signal light. These signals would share information with adjacent systems, but there is no centralized control, no artificial management initiative.

Smith said: "in a few months after the start of the pilot study, through a main road in our study area was cut off. Great changes have been made in the mode of transport - but we have not done anything."

The results show that the traffic order becomes highly coordinated.

Smith explained: "through the communication with the adjacent signal system, the information can be more than the propagation. Therefore, you can establish a rational long-term planning through a decentralized approach."

Surtrac signal cooperation in the way, the same as the ants or birds. This way is known as the "swarm strategy", which is often used to coordinate the implementation of various tasks, such as investigation and rescue, and so on. The advantages of this approach include scalability - the additional signal lights are very easy, persistent - a unit failure, the remaining part will be automatically adjusted to make a remedy.

Surtrac achieved remarkable results in Pittsburgh. Smith said that the pilot areas of the travel time is shortened to 25%, largely due to idle time reduced by 40%. And this means that emissions are reduced by 21%. Although Surtrac results from only 24 traffic lights, but it is far more than the results of the Losangeles system to reduce traffic congestion by 16%. Pilot funded by the local foundation and public-private partnerships, this summer will expand the scale, add 25 signal lights.

With the expansion of pilot scale, the effect of Surtrac adaptive technology will be the best test. Pittsburgh will be the first to re adjust the signal lights of the conventional model, in the Surtrac installation of its intelligent system, the setting is in the running state. This means that from the beginning, this set of intelligent system is compared with the conventional settings.

Smith is full of confidence in the results. He said: "the traditional concept of the view that the adaptive signal is not suitable for dense urban areas. We will prove that this idea is wrong."

The above information is provided by the traffic signal lamp manufacturer