Bengaluru: Know how Google stepped in to reduce traffic congestion, pollution

Google is harnessing the power of artificial intelligence to enhance traffic management and reduce pollution in several Indian cities. Google employs AI and leverages data from Google Maps to model traffic behavior, offering recommendations for optimizing traffic light sequences.

According to Google, as explained by Yossi Matias, Google's Vice President of Engineering and Research and quoted by Times of India, “the implementation of these recommendations by city engineers takes less than five minutes. By not just optimizing individual intersections, but by coordinating across multiple nearby intersections to create synchronized green lights, cities can enhance traffic flow and further decrease the emissions resulting from frequent stops.”

Using this model, Google develops AI-driven improvements and shares them with city engineers. For instance, the system identifies opportunities for coordination between unsynchronized intersections and offers recommendations for adjusting traffic light timing to ensure smoother traffic flow along specific road segments.

In India, this initiative, known as Green Light, has been put into action in cities such as Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Kolkata. Back in 2021, Google had introduced Project Green Light with the objective of mitigating pollution levels and optimizing traffic flow at intersections in various cities.

Recently, Google unveiled new AI-powered features to enhance the project's effectiveness. Matias said, "We are delighted to report that initial data suggests the potential for reducing stops by up to 30% and emissions by up to 10% at intersections."