The artificial intelligence It is increasingly present in our daily lives, being a technology that has an infinite number of applications and is used for very diverse purposes due to its numerous advantages. One of them is the regulationion of traffic, and that is that the Madrid City Council, which has successfully developed several projects for the application of AI in the regulation of traffic lights to dynamically integrate all road users and contribute to a more sustainable urban mobility. Now, a new traffic light equipped with this technology has been installed.
Specifically, the Madrid City Council has put into operation a new traffic light with artificial intelligence in the link of the A-5 of Batán, at the height of Villagarcía street. This is responsible for both regulating the passage of pedestrians and traffic, contributing to an area where there are educational centers that require greater control for reasons of safety and protection. This is not the first use case, since the traffic lights near the Metropolitan Stadiumhome of Atlético de Madrid, already have this technology to manage the passage of large masses of pedestrians on match days or massive events.
Next to them is a third traffic light with AI in Madrid already in operation, as is the one located in the Princess Streetwhich connects the Plaza de España with the Moncloa area, in order to regulate the large confluence of pedestrians. After the excellent results obtained, work is already underway on its implementation in other areas of the capital of Spain.
How do traffic lights work with artificial intelligence?
These traffic lights with artificial intelligence that the Madrid City Council is implementing on its roads are capable of analyzing through cameras how many pedestrians accumulate to cross the roadand changes to green for them when many are waiting. In this way, there is no specific time to resume circulation, since the AI waits until all the people have crossed to avoid accidents.
The new traffic light located at the A-5 interchange in Batán was implemented at the request of the neighbors, who had asked that measures be taken in response to the difficulties for children to cross while the works on the A-5 were being carried out. Likewise, this traffic light also allows the vehicle traffic regulation conventional and emergency.
This was necessary with the underground work that is expected to be completed in November of next year 2026, so that the aim is to regulate traffic in a better way until the work is a reality, which, along more than three kilometers of the A-5, will be able to cross because it will be a completely pedestrian section.
The big difference between these traffic lights and the conventional ones is that in this case they have the ability to analyze the environment in real time. Being equipped with intelligent cameras, they can know the number of people who are waiting to cross the pedestrian crossing, and depending on the number of them, it is when decides to change to green.
This means that it does not depend on a fixed timer that could negatively affect vehicle traffic and the pedestrians themselves, since after analyzing when it is safe to stop road traffic and knowing the time necessary to allow pedestrians to pass, it gives way to them. Furthermore, the technology gives priority to emergency vehicles when necessary.
