How Google is utilizing AI to assist one U.S. metropolis cut back visitors and emissions

Getting caught in visitors and hitting a number of pink lights in a row is not simply irritating and unhealthy for stress ranges, it is also unhealthy for the surroundings. However one U.S. metropolis is getting assist from a tech big and artificial intelligence to unravel this drawback.

Google’s Juliet Rothenberg is on a mission to make visitors lights extra environment friendly and fewer annoying.

“Shift a number of seconds from right here to there and that shift can have a big effect,” she informed CBS Information.

Google’s new Challenge Inexperienced Gentle system makes use of the corporate’s huge maps database and AI to optimize visitors lights all over the world. The system suggests adjustments and metropolis engineers then determine in the event that they wish to implement them.

“We had one case the place we moved 4 seconds from a north-south road to an east-west road for a specific time of day, so then that may assist cut back a few of that stop-and-go visitors,” Laura Wojcicki, an engineer at Seattle’s Division of Transportation, informed CBS Information.

She stated a suggestion from Google’s system may be applied in about 5 minutes.

Seattle is the primary metropolis within the U.S. to attempt Challenge Inexperienced Gentle, however this system is being examined out at 70 intersections in 13 cities all over the world, impacting 30 million automotive journeys per thirty days. Google claims the undertaking may cut back stop-and-go visitors by as much as 30%.

“It means loads for drivers and it additionally means loads for emissions,” Rothenberg stated.

Half of auto emissions at intersections come from automobiles accelerating after stopping, she stated. Google believes it could actually cut back these emissions by 10% — a welcome discount contemplating transportation is the primary supply of planet-warming air pollution within the U.S.

“Intersections are a extremely good leverage level for tackling local weather,” Rothenberg stated.

Google offers the service totally free and plans to increase to 1000’s of cities, creating what it calls a inexperienced wave for drivers.

Ben Tracy

Ben Tracy is CBS Information’ senior nationwide and environmental correspondent based mostly in Los Angeles. He studies for all CBS Information platforms, together with the “CBS Night Information with Norah O’Donnell,” “CBS Mornings” and “CBS Sunday Morning.”