Smart roadside recognizes the car to turn on the green light

Tips on the road measure the speed and direction of the vehicle, combined with computers and complex algorithms to turn on the green light.

Must stop waiting for the red light while the opposite lanes without cars, especially at night, is an experience almost everyone experiences. The application of new technology to save time and reduce traffic is becoming more widespread.

Hertogenbosch , the capital of North Brabant province, Netherlands, with a population of 150,000, is one of the smartest transport systems. The signal light system here varies depending on the subjects involved in traffic such as cars, trucks, buses, bicycles or pedestrians.

Bicycle and pedestrian access section with private signal light.(Photos from video).

The system uses complex algorithms, detection loops to measure the speed and direction of a computer and combines all relevant information to ensure the smoothest possible traffic. The shortest time is only 4 seconds of green light, or more just a little if needed. On the signal light does not show the time of the green light, but the countdown time before the green light turns on - a useful feature for cars when helping the driver prepare to continue to depart.

"If good detection, as well as good speed determination, it may take only 3.2 seconds of green light instead of 4. This 0.8 second difference can be shared among other traffic participants. And you will see what this small difference can do , "said Eric Greweldinger, a transportation expert at Hertogenbosch.

The system does not allow traffic participants to see the signal light once it has passed, so they have no concept of changing the light color at that time. In fact, only pedestrians from the back can see the signals and often find it difficult to understand because the lights have changed color when others are still passing through the intersection. However, once you have passed the signal light, you are always allowed to end the journey.

In Hertogenbosch, the number of motor vehicles passing by red lights is less than 1%, lower than the average of the Netherlands. But cyclists tend to violate traffic laws more than drivers.

Left: white light turns off to indicate that the green light is about to be pedestrian.Right: countdown to green light for cars.(Photo: BicycleDutch).

All means of traffic in this locality are recorded, although video images are not kept for private reasons, but the information used as a database helps traffic engineers have get all the information you need. In special cases, photos may be sent to court as legal evidence.

"There used to be a cyclist accusing the car of crashing until he was on the right green light. This person wanted the other driver to give the broken laptop and other things damaged by the collision. Our diary clearly shows that it is the cyclists who run the red light and the driver is not at fault: There was great surprise for the young man, he did not know that we recorded every habit of traffic participants and that is also a legal evidence ".

In the Netherlands, there are approximately 5,500 intersections with signal lights, of which, until 2018, 1,268 will be modernized with the latest technology.