Boston using Google AI in Green Light pilot program to improve traffic
Boston and Google AI are teaming up to help improve traffic flow with improved light timing at intersections.
By Tammy Mutasa
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BOSTON, Massachusetts (WBZ) — Google and the city of Boston are teaming up to make traffic better.
Google Green Light
The partnership with Google’s Project Green Light hopes to improve timing at traffic lights and the flow of cars, trucks and buses at problem intersections. According to Google, the project “uses AI and Google Maps driving trends, with one of the strongest understandings of global road networks, to model traffic patterns and build intelligent recommendations for city traffic engineers to optimize traffic flow.”
Studies have shown that Boston has some of the worst traffic in the world and data suggests it’s getting worse.
Google AI traffic test in Boston
Project Green Light has been tested at intersections in Fenway-Kenmore, Mission Mill, and Jamaica Plain by changing the timing of the traffic lights there.
Two of them were at Huntington Avenue and Opera Place and Amory and Green streets in Jamaica Plain. At both intersections, the city said stop-and-go traffic has dropped more than 50%.
“We need to find better ways to move people on our streets, we’ve been trying to improve streets, make buses more reliable, create more opportunities for safety so that we’re not asking people to take their lives into their own hands,” Boston Mayor Michelle Wu told reporters Thursday.
“But this is a place where we know that even small tweaks can go a long way with traffic. Sometimes it’s just a matter of how long a particular light stays green going one direction in the intersection versus the cross street.”
Change will take time
Stacy Thompson is with Livable Streets which advocates for safe streets in the Boston area. She lives close to the intersection in Jamaica Plain and is optimistic about the program.
“I would say it’s one solution for one of the challenges on our streets and people shouldn’t expect this to magically change everything overnight,” she told WBZ-TV.
“You want to make sure that the technology is thinking about everyone at the intersection whether they’re walking, biking, using transit or taking a car. My understanding is that the city is considering all these users because that same impact happens regardless of your mode.”
Boston and Seattle are currently the only U.S. cities in the pilot program.
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