Ford tests Smart Traffic Lights

In emergency situations, traffic delays for first responders can prove fatal. Now, Ford has put to the test its connected traffic light technology which could clear a path for approaching ambulances, fire engines and police vehicles.

Ford said that in addition to reducing delays, accidents caused by first responders driving through red lights could also be avoided. Additionally, congestion could be reduced with traffic lights sending the red-green timing information to approaching vehicles, improving traffic flow.

The trial formed part of a broader project that involves testing automated and connected vehicles and networked infrastructure in highway, urban and rural areas as part of the company’s ambitions to improve driving experience through connectivity and innovation.

To test the Smart Traffic Lights, Ford utilised a road with eight consecutive traffic lights in Aachen, Germany, and two stretches with three consecutive traffic lights just outside the city, all set up by the project’s partners.

The Ford Kuga Plug-In Hybrid test vehicle was equipped with on-board units for communicating with the infrastructure and rapid control prototyping hardware for running the prototype software in the vehicle. It acted as an ambulance and passenger vehicle for different test scenarios.

For testing an emergency response situation, the test vehicle signalled to the traffic lights to turn the light green. Once the vehicle passed through the junction, the traffic lights returned to standard operation, Ford said.

The test vehicle received the timing information for when lights turned from red to green and green to red, for testing daily driving situations. Ford’s Adaptive Cruise Control technology then adapted the vehicle’s speed to ensure a higher proportion of traffic encountered a green light.

When the traffic light was red, the vehicle’s speed was reduced well ahead of the junction to time the vehicle’s approach to arrive at the light the moment it turned green, for example from 30mph to 20mph.

This communication between vehicles and traffic lights is enabled by C-V2X (Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything) technology, a unified platform that connects vehicles to roadside infrastructure, other vehicles and road users.

“Exchanging data between cars, emergency vehicles and traffic lights in real time using the latest mobile phone technology makes road traffic safer and more efficient,” said Michael Reinartz, director, Consumer Services and Innovation, Vodafone Germany. “Intelligent traffic light control helps save lives when every second counts and also reduces unnecessary waiting times and cuts CO2 emissions.”