Google's AI Is Making Traffic Lights More Efficient and Less Annoying

Each time a driver in Seattle meets a red light, they wait about 20 seconds on average before it turns green again, according to vehicle and smartphone data collected by analytics company Inrix. The delays cause annoyance and expel in Seattle alone an estimated 1,000 metric tons or more of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each day. With a little help from new Google AI software, the toll on both the environment and drivers is beginning to drop significantly. Seattle is among a dozen cities across four continents, including Jakarta, Rio de Janeiro, and Hamburg, optimizing some traffic signals based on insights from driving data from Google Maps, aiming to reduce emissions from idling vehicles. The project analyzes data from Maps users using AI algorithms and has initially led to timing tweaks at 70 intersections.