Traffic lights now brighter

TRAFFIC lights fitted with artificial intelligence could spell the end of rush hour jams – or so scientists hope.

Milton Keynes will become the first city to install “smart” traffic lights that can detect heavy concentrations of vehicles and alter their pattern to ease congestion.

At the moment traffic lights run in sequences, but should be designed to react to cars passing through them, according to Vivacity Labs, the company that developed the technology.

“There is very limited intelligence to the current management of urban roads. Traffic lights are rarely reactive to the levels of traffic around them. Traffic monitoring is still done manually,” said Yang Lu, the company’s chief technology officer.

Milton Keynes is investing £3 million in the technology that should start working by September next year. Vivacity Labs will install 2,500 Aipowered cameras into the lights to monitor traffic. The sensors will cover an area of 50 square miles and have an eye on all major junctions.

Innovate UK, the start-up arm of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, has invested £1.7million in the traffic light project as part of its drive to make cities more efficient through technology.