Google Utilizing AI To Decrease Pollution In 3 Indian Cities
Google aims to reduce vehicle pollution emissions with the help of artificial intelligence and Google Maps driving trends by optimizing the placement of road signs. The goal of the project, called Green Light, is to make recommendations to optimize existing traffic light plans.
Google notes that optimization takes just five minutes for city engineers using this model, and it can not only analyze traffic lights across an intersection, but also coordinate “multiple adjacent intersections to create waves of green lights.” This, in turn, can reduce stop-and-go traffic and overall road vehicle emissions.
In India, cities like Bangalore, Hyderabad and Kolkata have already adopted this Google model. According to Google, early figures suggest that the Green Light project will reduce stops by 30% and emissions at intersections by up to 10%.
In addition, Google claims that in the 12 cities where this project is implemented, it can save fuel and reduce emissions by up to 30 million cars per month.
Google Green Light: how it works
The search giant explains that it builds an AI-based model of each intersection it operates on, including its structure, traffic patterns, light schedules, and the interaction between traffic and light schedules. In addition, Google is building a model based on the interaction between traffic lights. Based on this model, Google sends recommendations and optimizations to city-specific engineers that can be implemented at intersections and reduce emissions.
“Green Light can analyze thousands of intersections simultaneously, improving flow through multiple intersections in a city,” Google said. It added: “Our AI-based recommendations work with existing infrastructure and transport systems, and city engineers are able to track the impact and see results within weeks.”
As mentioned earlier, Indian cities like Bangalore, Kolkata and Hyderabad are already using Project Green Light, but it remains to be seen when this will roll out to other cities as it requires signing up on a waiting list.
