An MIT study determined that traffic lights, and their inefficiencies, could be eliminated if all vehicles were equipped to regulate their speed and "batch" together as they approach intersections.
Less a fully autonomous system than an extension of cruise control, the slot-based network could take away the need to wait at traffic lights. "The basic idea is that actors in a system are grouped into batches, and the speed of their movement is carefully controlled to move them more efficiently through a space."
Carlo Ratti and Paolo Santi of MIT have released a study that examines how cars could communicate to navigate intersections without coming to a stop. The system relies on sensors that relay a vehicle's trajectory to a central computer, which can then control that vehicle's speed and group it with other cars before arriving in the intersection.
Essentially, writes Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan, "What Santi and Ratti are proposing is a super-intelligent piece of software that could take the basic model of a stoplight—cycling between stop and go—and speed it up," so that all vehicles continue through the intersections at slow but steady speeds.
Of course, the article notes, slot-based design has to contend with the same barrier autonomous vehicles face: a human unwillingness to give up control.
FULL STORY: MIT's Not-So-Crazy Plan To Get Rid Of Stoplights
On the Benefits of Traffic Signal Removal
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USDOT Waters Down Self-Driving Car Regulations
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Waymo Gets Permission to Map SF’s Market Street
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Trump Administration Could Effectively End Housing Voucher Program
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Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Canada vs. Kamala: Whose Liberal Housing Platform Comes Out on Top?
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Paris Voters Approve More Car-Free Streets
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo says the city will develop a plan to close 500 streets to car traffic and add new bike and pedestrian infrastructure after a referendum on the proposal passed with 66 percent of the vote.
Making Mobility More Inclusive
A new study highlights the challenges people with disabilities continue to face in navigating urban spaces.
Texas Bills Could Push More People Into Homelessness
A proposal to speed up the eviction process and a bill that would accelerate enforcement of an existing camping ban could make the state’s homelessness crisis worse, advocates say.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
Ada County Highway District
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
Salt Lake City
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service