Smart Cars Successfully Communicate With Traffic Lights in Public Test

Cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) tech has been deployed on public roads for the first time. The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) is using it to request a green light for passenger vehicles. 

An Audi vehicle, HAAS’ Safety Cloud technology and a TravelSafely smartphone app from Applied Information was used in the project.

The “detector call” application alerts traffic signals of a vehicle’s approach, changing the light to green as the vehicle arrives if it’s safe to do so, reducing wait times and removing unnecessary stops for drivers at less busy road times. 

The partners said the tech is designed to improve road safety, streamlining traffic flow without installing costly vehicle detection equipment such as cameras or radar.

“This is a revolutionary change for the detection system from passive to proactive,” said Steve Chiu, TxDOT Houston’s project coordinator. “Also, from a maintenance and efficiency perspective, which is important to the maintaining agency, C-V2X provides a high level of reliability.”

“Enabling passenger vehicles to communicate with traffic signals is a significant leap forward in safety and efficiency,” said Bryan Mulligan, Applied Information’s president. “This innovation is available today and can be deployed at scale using existing technology on smartphones, in vehicles and at traffic signals.”

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The technology was demonstrated at the TxDOT Connected Vehicle Innovation Summit in Houston.