Audi teams up with traffic lights in Europe

Audi will install “Traffic Light Information” in its new models, a system that connects the car to traffic lights and allows for more efficient driving.

Audi has introduced in Europe its new traffic light information service of the V2L type, that is, vehicle-to-infrastructure, which it has named “Traffic Light Information”. Starting in July, the brand with the four rings will connect its new models to the traffic light network of Ingolstadt. However, this new initiative will not stay at home: the brand intends to extend it to more European cities starting in 2020.

The new Audi system, called “Time to Green”, shows on the vehicle’s instrument cluster the speed at which the driver should travel to reach the next traffic light while it is green. If circumstances do not allow this, the “GLOSA” system (Green Light Optimized Speed Advisory) will display a countdown indicating how long the traffic light will take to allow vehicles to pass.

Catching green lights in a row is a rare pleasure. However, this driver managed to catch no fewer than 240 green lights in a row. This is not usual, so the Audi system may represent a real advance for those of us who are used to driving in the city.

Audi will allow drivers to know how they will find the traffic lights

Andre Hainzlmaier, head of Apps, Connected Services and Smart City at the brand, stated: “City traffic, with constant starting and stopping, is a nuisance. In contrast, we feel delighted when we catch a run of green lights; unfortunately, the latter is not very frequent. With the Traffic Light Information function, drivers have greater control. They drive more efficiently and more relaxed, because they know 250 metres in advance whether they will reach the traffic light green or red”.

“In the future, anonymous data from our cars can help city traffic lights adopt more efficient phases and optimise traffic flow,” Hainzlmaier concluded.

“Audi Traffic Light Information” has been running for two years in the USA

This service is not completely new: Audi has already been using it for two years at more than 5,000 intersections in the United States. Drivers in cities such as Denver, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Portland and Washington DC can already calculate how long traffic lights will take to turn green.

Both the “Time to Green” and “GLOSA” functions will be installed in new Audi models so that they synchronise with the traffic lights of Ingolstadt. These new models include the new Audi e-tron, which we have already tested and about which we tell you here what we thought, and the Audi A4, A6, A7, A8, Q3 and Q8 units produced from mid-July onwards. For these applications to be installed, the Audi Connect Navigation & Infotainment pack and the camera-based traffic sign recognition device are required.

Knowing that this device has already been running for two years in the USA, we all wonder: why has it taken two years to reach Europe? Don’t worry, Andre Hainzlmaier has given an answer: “The challenges for introducing the service are much greater in Europe than in the USA, where urban traffic light systems were planned for larger areas with greater uniformity. In Europe, by contrast, traffic infrastructure has developed in a more local and decentralised way, with a greater variety of control technology.”

“The pace at which other cities connect to this technology will depend, above all, on whether data standards and interfaces are established, and on whether cities digitise their traffic lights,” said the head of Audi.

Audi will continue developing its new system

This new project is working with the mobility specialist company Traffic Technologies Services (TTS). This company is responsible for providing raw data collected from urban traffic management centres and transferring it to Audi’s servers. From there, the information reaches the brand’s cars via a fast internet connection.

“Traffic Light Information” will not stop at the functions mentioned above: the Teutonic manufacturer intends to develop the system so that it can be applied in more ways. Engineers are working so that the Audi e-tron makes more intensive use of energy recovery through braking to charge its batteries at the moment the car detects that it is heading towards a red light. Thanks to predictive adaptive cruise control, cars will be able to brake on their own when approaching traffic lights.

The new Audi application is a further step towards autonomous driving, so it seems the moment when we will only have to sit in the rear seats and let the car drive us autonomously to our destination is getting ever closer.