traffic

photo shows pedestrians and cars moving through a busy intersection in a city

Mar 12, 2024

New traffic signal would improve travel time for pedestrians and vehicles

Adding a fourth light to traffic signals would shorten wait times at street corners for pedestrians, as well as improve traffic flow for both autonomous vehicles and human drivers.

photo shows two rows of cars backed up as far as the eye can see.

Aug 15, 2023

Self-driving cars can make traffic slower

“Connected” vehicles, which share data with each other, improve travel time through intersections – but automated vehicles can actually slow down travel time if they are not connected to each other.

Emergency vehicle in red and white with lights flashing at intersection.

May 9, 2023

Model aims to help first responders reach accident sites faster

In computational testing, the model outperformed existing techniques for getting first responders to accident sites quickly.

Nighttime aerial time-lapse view of city intersection and headlights of traffic.

Feb 7, 2023

Researchers propose a fourth light on traffic signals – for self-driving cars

At a traffic light, red means stop and green means go. But transportation engineers at North Carolina State University are now proposing a “white light,” which would enable autonomous vehicles to help control traffic flow – and let human drivers know what’s going on. In computational simulations, the new approach significantly improves travel time through intersections and reduces fuel consumption.

Overhead view of several lanes of road traffic.

May 6, 2022

Researchers find way to make traffic models more efficient

The models are used for everything from traffic-light patterns to apps for driving directions.