US: Proposal to add white color to traffic lights

Traffic engineers at North Carolina State University have proposed adding a new color to the current traffic light system. This new color is white, reserved for self-driving cars.

The white lights are intended to guide autonomous vehicles (AVs) to coordinate traffic flow, while also alerting drivers on the same route to follow the lead of surrounding AVs. The goal of adding this color is to reduce overall fuel consumption and shorten travel times through intersections.

Workers maintain traffic lights – an illustration of infrastructure improvements to prepare for the possibility of integrating white lights specifically for self-driving cars in the future. (Source: Shutterstock)

The idea, according to the researchers, is to exploit the superior computing power that self-driving cars can bring to the traffic system, along with the ability to communicate with traffic control computers and other self-driving cars on the road.

These autonomous vehicles can capture all the information about the traffic flow in real time. When they see a white light, the autonomous vehicle will follow the AV in front and perform the exact actions that it would. If the car in front stops, the car behind stops. If the car in front crosses an intersection, the car behind follows.

This process of handing over control of traffic flow to the self-driving cars themselves is called “mobility control.” In the event that there are not enough self-driving cars at an intersection to maintain this level of control, the system will revert to standard traffic light mode: red – yellow – green.

There are other benefits to adding the new light color. Researchers previously demonstrated the concept of a “white light intersection” in 2020. But that version left all control to a central computer, with all the self-driving cars providing input before the computer gave the go-ahead.

The new version uses distributed computing, leveraging the computing power of all self-driving cars at the intersection to make traffic coordination decisions. This helps overcome communication delays with the central computer, ensuring traffic always flows smoothly.

The three standard traffic signals – red, yellow, green – could soon be supplemented with white to support intelligent traffic coordination led by self-driving cars. (Source: Shutterstock)

The researchers tested the theory using simulations of real-world traffic flows, and found that self-driving cars significantly improved traffic flow, even without the new lights.

However, “white phase” can increase efficiency even further, while reducing fuel consumption by limiting stop-and-go situations at intersections. Another interesting finding is that the more autonomous cars at intersections, the lower the waiting time.

However, this whole theory can only be implemented when the number of self-driving cars in the traffic system is large enough, and the construction of more intersections with white lights is needed. Although it will take many years to realize, there are already countries using blue traffic lights.

Mr. Quang

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/my-de-xuat-them-mau-trang-cho-den-giao-thong-ar972669.html