Your commute could get a lot shorter without your even realizing it, thanks to a new idea: traffic lights with artificial-intelligence brains inside.
Over the past couple of years, a startup named Surtrac has been upgrading traffic lights in Pittsburgh to add artificial intelligence. These lights collect data on the amount of traffic from cameras and radar signals, and the network of lights coordinates to ensure that traffic passes through intersections as quickly as possible.
The AI system began with nine intersections in Pittsburgh’s East Liberty neighborhood in 2012 and has quietly expanded to 50 intersections. The startup plans to implement its network across the whole city. Then it’s expected to take this technology to other cities around the country. The technology involves a series of lights that use artificial intelligence to get as many cars through each intersection as possible. The system is decentralized, which means each light is only responsible for one intersection. The lights coordinate by sending information on incoming cars to nearby lights. This technique reduces the load on the network and makes it easier to scale up.
Surtrac also plans to enable the system to communicate directly with cars. Such a system could notify drivers of traffic conditions in advance. It could also prioritize certain types of traffic, such as emergency vehicles or city buses.

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