Audi System Links Cars to Traffic Lights

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Audi thinks its Travolution System can help drivers avoid stopping for so many traffic lights. They system allows the car to communicate with lights, so it knows when they’ll turn green. A display tells the driver whether to speed up or slow down to hit all green lights.

The system is being tested in Ingolstadt, Germany, where 46 traffic lights report to compatible Audi vehicles. Audi claims the system will reduce stopping time and even cut the number of stops vehicles make.

Synchronizing vehicles and traffic lights seems like a worthy goal to keep traffic flowing and congestion down. But will the system prove practical in the real world?

Unless a large number of cars — more than just Audis — are synchronized to the local traffic lights, any single driver can decide to stop and interrupt the flow of traffic. We like hitting multiple green lights in a row as much as the next driver, but this technology seems a long way away from being useful.