The new traffic light technology is expected to make the flow of traffic in the UK capital much smoother as it collects data from all road users. Transport for London (TfL) and Siemens Mobility Limited have installed traffic lights fitted with brand new technology on some roads in southwest London.
TfL is responsible for managing London’s traffic lights and making sure that their timings are optimised to help people move around the capital as safely, sustainably and efficiently as possible. Until now, most of London’s traffic lights have been managed using technology which uses magnetic detectors buried in the road to detect passing motor vehicles, optimising timings based on these.
The new Real Time Optimiser (RTO) system, developed jointly by TfL and Siemens Mobility, will change how these timings are optimised by taking into account a much greater variety of rich data sources, covering all road users rather than just motor vehicles. Examples of data sources that will be fed into the new system include information on cycling, walking and freight movements across the capital. TfL says the system will use a new algorithm named FUSION, also developed by TfL and Siemens, to make intelligent, data-driven decisions about which traffic signals should be placed on their green phase, when and for how long.