Quebec City has turned to Google\u2019s artificial intelligence (AI) to synchronize traffic lights, which will improve traffic flow, reduce congestion, and lower greenhouse gas emissions.<\/p>\n
According to Google Canada, Quebec City is the first city in the country to partner with the web giant\u2019s Green Light project.<\/p>\n
As part of this project, AI analyzes driving trends from Google Maps and combines this data with information on the location of traffic lights in the city.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Green Light project uses Google Maps driving trends and artificial intelligence to map a city\u2019s traffic patterns and then make specific recommendations about specific intersections that can be implemented very quickly by city engineers,\u201d summarized Laurence Therrien, public affairs manager at Google Canada, in an interview with The Canadian Press.<\/p>\n
She clarified that AI data does not replace the work of engineers, but rather serves as an additional \u201ctool.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe aggregated and anonymized trends from Google Maps really provide a much faster and more reliable overview of a city\u2019s traffic than if it had to be done manually or with existing systems,\u201d she summarized.<\/p>\n
Present in around 20 cities<\/p>\n
The Green Light project is being used in 19 cities on four continents.<\/p>\n
According to data analysis carried out by Google in these different cities, the project has \u201cdemonstrated the potential to reduce frequent stops and starts by up to 30 per cent and estimated CO2 emissions at urban intersections by 10 per cent.\u201d<\/p>\n
Google\u2019s AI aims to make car traffic flow more smoothly.<\/p>\n
If a city emphasizes the smooth flow of car traffic, does it risk encouraging more people to use their cars, to the detriment of active or public transportation?<\/p>\n
\u201cIf car traffic flows more smoothly, so does bus traffic,\u201d replied Therrien.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo it encourages public transportation, which is much more efficient than if the traffic lights were not automated,\u201d according to the public affairs manager at Google Canada.<\/p>\n
Initial positive results in Quebec City<\/p>\n
In Quebec City, the project has already made it possible to adjust the timing of traffic lights at 11 intersections in the city, and the initial results are positive, according to Mayor Bruno Marchand\u2019s administration.<\/p>\n
\u201cAn innovative project like Green Light allows us to quickly and effectively optimize our road network, thereby improving traffic flow and efficiency,\u201d said Marchand in a press release.<\/p>\n
A compelling example<\/p>\n
In the press release published on Monday morning, the City of Quebec \u201cgave an example of the project\u2019s impact.\u201d<\/p>\n
The municipal administration explained that during the evening rush hour, the traffic lights were \u201cslightly out of sync\u201d at the intersection of C\u00f4te Saint-Sacrement and Rue Semple, at the corner of Boulevard Charest, causing delays for motorists driving down C\u00f4te Saint-Sacrement and leading to traffic jams.<\/p>\n
\u201cUsing the Green Light AI model, Google proposed reducing the delay between lights by 15 seconds to align the timing with those at Semple and Charest,\u201d and \u201cnorthbound traffic, which is the most frequent in this area according to 2023 data, is now smoother and better coordinated.\u201d<\/p>\n
This example shows how AI \u201ccan complement the work of municipal experts by proposing simple, effective, and data-driven adjustments,\u201d according to the city.<\/p>\n
The Green Light project is offered free of charge to cities that wish to use it.<\/p>\n
\u2013This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Quebec City has turned to Google\u2019s artificial intelligence (AI) to synchronize traffic lights, which will improve traffic flow,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":81550,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[49,48,295,66],"class_list":["post-81549","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81549","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81549"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81549\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}