Walnut Creek gets a green- light alert
Smartphone technology may soon replace the heated honk from behind in alerting oblivious drivers that the light is green — at least in Walnut Creek.
The city is the newest test market for En Lighten, an appbased system that alerts drivers moments before a red traffic light changes, so they’ll knock it off with the distractions — such as eating, putting on makeup or posting to Facebook — and pay attention to the road.
Officials with the city and Contra Costa County see the technology as an early step in a broader plan to one day seamlessly connect drivers, their
vehicles and the overall transportation network in a bid to reduce accidents and get traffic flowing more smoothly.
“It’s a small puzzle piece in a much bigger concept,” said Gayle Vassar, a Walnut Creek spokeswoman. “More and more cars are being connected through technology and every one of these things is going to reduce traffic accidents.”
Here’s how En Lighten works: The software is plugged into the city’s traffic signal master, the nerve center that automatically adjusts the timing of lights based on sensors and cameras that monitor congestion.
When a light turns red, the app seeks to calculate the amount of time the driver will be waiting, based on traffic data and real- time information from the city’s signals.
A few seconds before the signal changes, the driver is alerted with a sound that tells him or her to pay attention and get ready to go.
City officials say the simple technology will lessen traffic congestion, thus increasing fuel efficiency and hopefully make driving a little less frustrating.
The app was developed by startup Connected Signals of Eugene, Ore., which operates in eight U. S. cities along with Christchurch, New Zealand. The technology is coming to Palo Alto in the summer.
“We understand distracted driving, and were hoping to use technology to reduce that problem instead of making it worse,” said Matt Ginsberg, the chief executive of Connected Signals. “The impact is on fuel economy, driver safety and driver stress — and we want to improve all those things.”
The idea was getting some mixed reviews from those who live and work in Walnut Creek.
“I don’t feel like in our town there is really a need for that. There aren’t that many signal lights. We have a lot of four- way stops,” said Freddy Sanchez, who owns The Clip Joynte barber shop. “If there was something in the app where you could report someone on their phone, it would be a lot better.”
Deb Phillips, who works in Walnut Creek, said she’s been behind people who remain frozen well after a signal turns green — and that she’s been that person herself.
But she thinks the app could backfire. “Now you have an excuse to not pay attention,” she said. “That’s going to be an issue with increasingly automated driving situations.”
Contra Costa County officials are welcoming the technology as part of a plan to make the region a hub for transportation research and testing.
The regional transportation authority recently partnered with Honda in testing driverless vehicles at the old Concord Naval Weapons Station in Concord, and facilitated getting En-Lighten hooked up in Walnut Creek.
The program was funded by a grant from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission.