Filed under: Emerging Technologies, MPG, Ford
Billions of gallons of gas could be saved by "Smart Intersections"
Like other automakers, Ford has been doing considerable research into so-called "Smart Intersections." Smart intersections fall into the realm of vehicle-to-infrastructure technology, AKA telematics. While this is generally considered safety related, both vehicle to infrastructure and vehicle-to-vehicle communications can also play a major role in reducing fuel consumption and pollution. One of the major causes of excess emissions and fuel use is vehicles stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic, often caused by accidents or by drivers in urban areas blocking intersections because they tried to get across and ran out of time. Ford, along with a number of other automakers and government agencies, is working to develop common standards and architecture for these active traffic safety systems. One of the first privately-funded smart intersections that sends signals to cars when a light is about change has been installed near Ford's Dearborn development center. If signals can be sent to vehicles giving advanced warning of light changes or stop signs, drivers could potentially avoid trying to run yellows or doing excessively hard braking and acceleration. The Texas Transportation Institute's "2007 Urban Mobility Report" estimated that three billion gallons of gas are wasted every year due to congestion and this could technology could help reduce that significantly.
[Source: Ford]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
darius 1:54PM (8/19/2008)
One of the other ways we could save gas substantially in the US would be to change a great number of STOP signs in to YIELD sings. It always bothered quite a bit coming from Europe, that even the smallest of interactions have STOP signs on all sides.
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fnc 1:58PM (8/19/2008)
Smart, traffic aware signaling is an area that could see a lot of improvement. How many times have you sat at a red light late at night when there wasn't another car in sight? Wouldn't it be nice if the intersections timed the signals for your movement? There'd be boatloads of complexity in such a scheme as soon as you throw multiple directions of traffic at it, but based on the total lack of sense I've seen in the newly installed lights in my neighborhood it would be hard to make some systems any worse.
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MikeW 2:25PM (8/19/2008)
How about eliminating stop signs that are not in accordance with the Federal manual of uniform traffic control devices?
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Seth 2:32PM (8/19/2008)
@fnc : I agree. I think this money and brainpower could be better spent on finding ways to tie multiple lights together to avoid the start-stop phenomenon that current sensor systems cause (where the gap in traffic from one light triggers the next light to turn red just in time for all the cars from the previous light to arrive, forcing them to stop and start yet again). That system works well in our downtown area, and, while making it work correctly in a more haphazard environment would be difficult, there's gotta be a better solution than what we have now.
"If signals can be sent to vehicles giving advanced warning of light changes or stop signs, drivers could potentially avoid trying to run yellows or doing excessively hard braking and acceleration."
-- Just setting up an alert system to notify people when the light is about to change seems almost useless to me. It's not going to stop people from cramming into the intersection -- those people KNOW the light is changing, or has already changed, and don't care, they just don't want to wait. If you're looking to warn people earlier, wouldn't it be easier to just make the yellow light last longer? That would have the same result, unless I'm missing something.
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Sean 3:34PM (8/19/2008)
Many of the primary highway (55MPH+ speed limit) traffic lights in South Carolina have warning signals 500~1000 feet or so from the lights themselves that start flashing a few seconds before the light turns red, and keep flashing until the light turns green again.
It definitely helps because they have them timed so if you see the flashing lights, you're not going to catch the green light (unless you're in a Tesla.) People figure this out quickly and as a result, we have very few people running these lights and very many coasting to a stop long before they would otherwise. Makes for pleasant driving for my pseudo-hypermiling self. ;)
So adding tech to cars to allow this same advance notice for all traffic lights would be very beneficial in my opinion.
Robert 2:35PM (8/19/2008)
I guess European rules are generally not too bad. There is the UK (and many other countries in the meantime) with countless roundabouts. There is e.g. Poland with little green arrows at traffic lights which mean you can turn right even with the light red. Austria with its flashing green light (4 times, one second intervals). And of course Italy with no rules at all (or so it seems). Stop signs are useless, right before left has worked very well in continental Europe and still does.
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Chris Carpenter 2:47PM (8/19/2008)
Our city took note of the UK and we have piles and piles of roundabouts. It really makes a lot of sense and has cleared up congestion and senseless waiting at lights. Retrofitting cities is a different story - it costs money, which we fortunately have, but many communities do not.
mrbell 3:05PM (8/19/2008)
my solution to people stuck in the intersection is the judicious use of the horn and getting as close as possible to them so they'll think twice about doing something so boneheaded next time. At least that's what I hope they do. So far it doesn't seem to be working. but a blaring horn coming from a vehicle moving very quickly at your driverside door should do something!
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Sean 3:37PM (8/19/2008)
New York City gives a fine of $200 and 2 points on your license if you're caught blocking the intersection. (They paint large white cris-crossing lines so nobody can claim ignorance.) Ever since then, gridlock has not been a problem. ;)
Brett 3:46PM (8/19/2008)
Where I live, there are tons of roundabouts and dead-end roads with no signs warning you of any of these things. I waste $15-$20 of my $55 gas fillup every couple of days by taking "wasted" street routes. Not only is it making me think i should stop driving, but it also makes me want to not really pay for my own car and maybe either get a car loan through a place like http://www.1carcash.com or try to get a car for free through things like car sponsorships...If i am going to get stuck at busy intersections and dead ends, it might as well be in a "Snapple Car". I have to agree that no one is stopping for yellow/red lights any time soon and if they actually install anything to warn us, there will be even worse driving and road issues. What we truly need is hover cars already, to answer all of these issues. I fully agree with Mike W and his stop sign comment.
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phr 4:23PM (8/19/2008)
This is another example of over engineering American mentality. Instead of installing small count down clocks on the intersection so does not matter what vehicle comes to the sign. They will install yet more electronics on the dash of the car to further distract the driver from looking at the road.
Why not just install count down clocks on all red lights with a sign that says 'turn off engine' to tell willing drivers to turn their engines off when the count down is in 100+ range.
PHR
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zimagold 4:35PM (8/19/2008)
A simple countdown timer before the light change can be very beneficial. I saw many of these at intersections while traveling through China. You can quickly judge whether to coast to a light that's about to change, or speed up a little to make it through, rather than have to slam on the brakes.
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Joel 2:18AM (8/20/2008)
Here is a link to the website of a company that is working on this problem. http://aldiscorp.com/
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catherine 2:59AM (8/20/2008)
Where I live the roundabouts work really well at keeping traffic moving and are reasonably marked. In one nearby city they had a corner that kept having bad accidents from left turns etc and people getting Tboned and deaths etc . They did a study and decided to change that section to a roundabout. There hasn't been a death since although there is an accident there almost every evening during rush hour due to some Americans having trouble understanding the protocol of roundabouts. Apparently its become popular for people to sit on the patio of the bar overlooking the roundabout and have some beers taking bets on the accidents. The city is very happy with it cuz the accidents are always fender bender scrapes type deals instead of the disastrous totaled cars with bodies all over the place. We also have "smart lights" around here although not at all intersections. The light will give you the green if no one else is at the intersection after a certain hour of the night. This is great since you don't have to sit at a light by yourself at 1am waiting for a light to change wasting fuel which is crazy.
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Glenn Mercer 7:34PM (8/23/2008)
Once again a technology solution in search of a question. Studies have shown (sorry to use the cliche phrase, but it is true: see the recently-published book "Traffic") that roundabouts both save fuel AND generate fewer accidents (because one always has to look for arriving traffic there is less chance of being hit from not paying attention: there is no red light to run!). Without any gizmos or electricity. So why the heck can we not use them more in America? Some drivers are afraid of them? Cities don't want to lose ticket income from run lights? Beats me. This sure seems to be one of those almost-mythical win-wins: a rotary or round-about costs less, saves more fuel than, and kills fewer people than, a signaled intersection. So what am I missing?
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travis 8:05PM (8/29/2008)
um.....roundabouts anyone. They almost eliminate stop/go traffic patterns making it so you have to accelerate a lot less than at a normal traffic light or stop-sign...and they require no electricity for a stop light as well, and no need for a red-light camera. Also you can place art or small green areas in the center of the roundabouts as is done in Central Oregon. If you had the chance to drive there you'd notice that you almost never have to stop and wait, and the traffic is constantly flowing instead of being backed up by stop/start intersections.
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