While traffic lights are necessary to maintain traffic flow, they can also cause unnecessary delays and increase air pollution by emitting more carbon dioxide. Thankfully, Google’s new AI is making a difference.
This Google project is called Green Light, and it involves the company analyzing traffic data from the popular Google Maps app and using AI algorithms to make changes at 70 intersections around the world.
According to a preliminary analysis of traffic data before and after implementing changes in the previous year and this year.
Google’s AI-driven recommendations for optimizing traffic signals have successfully reduced the number of stops by up to 30% and emissions by 10%, benefiting 30 million vehicles each month.
Google announced these preliminary findings today, along with updates to several projects aimed at leveraging its data and artificial intelligence expertise to promote greater environmental sustainability.
The company is expanding Maps’ fuel-efficient routing feature, which guides drivers along less congested or uphill routes, to India and Indonesia.
In addition, to reduce the formation of climate-altering contrails, Google is introducing flight-routing suggestions for air traffic controllers in Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and northwest Germany.
Google’s Project Green Light has received positive feedback so far, but as the company releases new operational details and announces plans to expand into additional cities next year, it may garner even more attention and scrutiny.
Google has stated on its Project Green Light webpage that it expects ongoing development and refinement of results, with future publications expected to provide more in-depth insights into the project.
To read our blog on “Google introduces an in-search AI text-to-image generator,” click here