Google’s advances in AI is now helping reduce pollution. (Photo by Ravi Sharma on Unsplash)
Google’s AI ambitions go beyond developing smart devices; the company’s Green Light project is dedicated to reducing global pollution levels through the optimisation of traffic intersections.
Google is working to reduce vehicle pollution emissions with the help of artificial intelligence and Google Maps driving trends by optimizing the placement of traffic signals. Dubbed the ‘Green Light’ project, it aims to make recommendations for optimising the existing traffic light plans.
Google notes that optimisation takes as little as five minutes for city engineers using this model, and it can not only analyze traffic signals across an intersection but also coordinate “across several adjacent intersections to create waves of green lights.” This, in turn, can reduce stop-and-go traffic and lower overall emissions from road vehicles.
In India, cities like Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Kolkata have already implemented this Google model. According to Google, early numbers suggest that through the Green Light project, there is a 30% reduction in stops and up to a 10% reduction in emissions at intersections.
Furthermore, Google claims that across the 12 cities worldwide where this project is implemented, it can save fuel and lower emissions for up to 30 million car rides monthly.
Google Green Light: How It Works
The search giant explains that it builds an AI-based model for every intersection it works on, which includes its structure, traffic patterns, light scheduling, and how traffic and the light schedules interact. Moreover, Google also builds a model based on the interaction between traffic lights. Based on this model, Google sends recommendations and optimisations to city-based engineers to implement across intersections, reducing emissions.
“Green Light is capable of analysing thousands of intersections simultaneously, improving the flow through multiple intersections in the city,” Google said. It added, “Our AI-based recommendations work with existing infrastructure and traffic systems, and city engineers are able to monitor the impact and see results within weeks.”
As mentioned earlier, Indian cities like Bangalore, Kolkata, and Hyderabad already using Project Green Light, but it remains to be seen when this will come to other cities, as it involves signing up for a waitlist.
