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<\/p>\nTraffic on two major Brisbane roads will be managed with the help of artificial intelligence from next year as part of a trial which the council says is the first of its kind in Australia.<\/p>\n
The technology will be installed at 22 intersections on Logan Road and 15 intersections on the Kelvin Grove Road corridor, replacing the current phase-based system which has been commonplace since the 1950s.<\/p>\n
Brisbane City Council transport chair Ryan Murphy said the system would sit on the existing infrastructure “like a top hat”, with cameras able to identify pedestrians, cyclists, cars, trucks and public transport.<\/p>\n
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The trial will be run at intersections on Kelvin Grove Road. (ABC News: Emma Johnson)<\/p>\n
The technology will be able to determine the volume of traffic and queue lengths at intersections and use that information to calculate the best traffic light sequence.<\/p>\n
“The system will learn over time and will be able to suggest different interventions to the operators,” he said.<\/p>\n
“It will give us the ability to truly manage our transport network rather than just observe it.<\/p>\n
“This is not just about optimising flow for cars, but it is about public transport, active transport and freight.”<\/p>\n
The technology has the ability to adapt to cater for weather conditions and major events, like football games.<\/p>\n
Cr Murphy said there would always be “a human in the loop” and all data collected would be retained in Brisbane.<\/p>\n
“Faces are blurred, number plates are blurred and no data will be sent off shore,” he said.<\/p>\n
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Ryan Murphy says it will be a “game changer” for Brisbane. (ABC News: Emma Johnson)<\/p>\n
The council says the system, which has been rolled out in other major cities worldwide, could reduce travel time by up to 15 per cent on average and reduce rear-end crashes by 12 per cent.<\/p>\n
The $15 million trial is set to begin early next year and run for six months after which it will be determined whether the system will be rolled out across the council’s network of 1,000 intersections.<\/p>\n
Cr Murphy said in the coming weeks work would begin behind the scenes to build the software and integrate it with the current system.<\/p>\n
When it comes to who is prioritised at the intersections Cr Murphy said the council would “decide the rule set”.<\/p>\n
“There are some corridors that we may want to optimise for pedestrian movement, for example in the CBD, there are other corridors where we may want to optimise them for freight during the day,” he said.<\/p>\n
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AI traffic signalling will be trialled at 37 intersections in Brisbane, including on Kelvin Grove Road. (Supplied: Brisbane City Council)<\/p>\n
The announcement comes after neighbouring Moreton City Council announced it would trial AI traffic signalling<\/a> at one intersection at Petrie later this year.<\/p>\n The move has been welcomed by RACQ’s public policy executive manager Michael Kane who said it was important to look beyond a single intersection and two roads to the whole network.<\/p>\n “What we think is really important is how this technology can continue to be with us for a long time,” he said.<\/p>\n “As our infrastructure gets better it really then doubles up the benefit that we can deliver.”<\/p>\n