Pittsburgh's new artificially intelligent stoplights could mean no more pointless idling

["Dave Farber" <farber () gmail com>]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Hendricks Dewayne <dewayne () warpspeed com>
> Date: October 23, 2016 at 10:43:35 AM EDT
> To: Multiple recipients of Dewayne-Net <dewayne-net () warpspeed com>
> Subject: [Dewayne-Net] Pittsburgh's new artificially intelligent stoplights could mean no more pointless idling
> Reply-To: dewayne-net () warpspeed com
>
> [Note:  This item comes from friend Mike Cheponis.  DLH]
>
> Pittsburgh's new artificially intelligent stoplights could mean no more pointless idling
> By Chris Weller
> Oct 22 2016
> <https://flipboard.com/@flipboard/flip.it%2Fv0Bx8s-pittsburghs-new-artificially-intelligen/f-d4fc5638da%2Fbusinessinsider.com>
>
> Traffic lights are finally getting smarter in Pittsburgh.
>
> Thanks to a new pilot program from the tech startup Rapid Flow Technologies, Steel City now boasts 50 intersections 
> whose stoplights are running artificial intelligence software known as Surtrac that reduces wait times on empty or 
> lightly-traveled roads.
>
> Since Surtrac was first introduced in 2012, the Rapid Flow team estimates the AI stoplights have cut emissions by 
> 21%, travel times by 25%, and idling times by 40%.
>
> The magic of Surtrac is that it bundles each stoplight into an intelligent network "that moves all the vehicles it 
> knows about through the intersection in the most efficient way possible," Rapid Flow CEO Steve Smith said at the 
> recent White House Frontiers Conference, according to IEEE Spectrum.
>
> Surtrac relies on a system of cameras and radar sensors that detect traffic patterns in particular areas. When one 
> area starts to see more traffic — during rush hour, for example — the other stoplights use a proprietary set of 
> algorithms to adjust their timing accordingly.
>
> The result is a smarter city that operates more like a living, breathing organism than just a static patch of roads.
>
> Pittsburgh has recently been a popular site for urban-planning innovation. In August, the city played host to Uber's 
> first rollout of self-driving cars. Uber selected Pittsburgh because of its odd assortment of narrow, one-way streets 
> mixed with steep hills and a staggering 446 bridges, all of which make it an ideal setting for testing the limits of 
> AI.
>
> As IEEE Spectrum reports, Surtrac isn't the only smart traffic-management system. There are others in Utah, 
> California, and Washington. But unlike those systems, the stoplights in Pittsburgh don't need a jumble of wires run 
> beneath the city streets or the help of a central command to run.
>
> In Pittsburgh, Surtrac allows the lights to talk to one another independently, based only on the feedback from the 
> sensors and cameras. They essentially think for themselves.
>
> [snip]
>
> Dewayne-Net RSS Feed: <http://dewaynenet.wordpress.com/feed/>



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