Adaptive Traffic Lights Could Achieve ‘The Green Wave’
20th September 2010
The new approach makes traffic lights go with the flow, rather than enslaving drivers to the tyranny of timed signals. By measuring vehicle inflow and outflow through each intersection as it occurs and coordinating lights with only their nearest neighbors, a system-wide smoothness emerges, scientists report in a September Santa Fe Institute working paper.
Except that the implementation would be in the hands of government employees, who have historically screwed up everything they’ve touched. So don’t hold your breath waiting for it.