Intelligent intersection control systems have a growing role to play in making

urban traffic more efficient. Robin Meczes reports.

The idea of every traffic light turning green as you approach it has long been a dream
for many an urban driver and none more so than those driving heavy goods vehicles
(HGVs), which are slow and difficult to bring to a halt and then accelerate back to
normal travel speed. But that dream has become a reality for some drivers in a small
number of cities around Europe in the last few years, thanks to the Freilot project, and
now looks set to do the same for many more with the launch in January of
the Compass4D pilot in several other locations.
The EU co-funded Freilot (Urban Freight Energy Efficiency Pilot) scheme was a
cooperative mobility services project that began in October 2010 and tested a range of
intelligent systems including energy-efficient intersection control, eco-driving support,
loading bay advance booking, and in-vehicle speed and acceleration limiters, all
designed to help boost safety and efficiency while reducing fuel consumption and
vehicle emissions. The pilot was conducted in four European cities Helmond (The
Netherlands), Bilbao (Spain), Lyon (France) and Krakow (Poland).
The trial was a striking success particularly in terms of energy-efficient intersection
control. Ensuring that emergency vehicles and heavy trucks could pass through
junctions more often on a green light boosted travel times and cut fuel consumption, as
well as reducing the kind of collisions that so often occur at intersections.
In Helmond (The Netherlands), site of the most prolific energy-efficient intersection
installation in the scheme, the project resulted in test vehicles being stopped at traffic
light controlled intersections just 6% of the time, rather than 13% before. That
contributed to a 13% reduction in fuel consumption and a 2.6% increase in the average
speed of HGVs through the test routes. Fire engines, meanwhile, which were given even
greater priority, enjoyed an even bigger speed improvement of 8%.
Though the trial has now come to an end, the system in use in Helmond continues to
operate. Covering 13 separate intersections, it uses on-board units (OBUs) in vehicles
that communicate with the intersections Road Side Units (RSUs) using the 802.11p
protocol a wi-fi variant optimised for communications between moving objects.
Approaching vehicles and RSU become aware of one another about 800 metres in
advance of the intersection, at which point the RSU decides what priority is appropriate.
For emergency vehicles in full flight, lights would be turned green; for trucks, lights
would be turned green where practical or, as a minimum, advice would be issued by the
RSU to the in-cab screen about what speed to adopt in order to reach the light as it
turned green.
Siebe Turksma, product manager, research at Imtech (formerly Peek Traffic), which
supplied most of the Freilot RSUs, as well as the OBUs and associated software, says
the net result for HGVs was a much greater probability of passing through lights
without stopping. He admits, however, that prioritising some vehicles in this way can
disadvantage other traffic. The fire brigade gets a very hard, absolute form of priority

 that can be very disruptive for other traffic, he says. In busy times, you have to
allow about 10 minutes before things return to normal though obviously, in quieter
times, the disruption is not so great.
For HGVs, the priority was far lower, he continues. It was a case of increasing the
probability of them getting a green light.
Where they might normally have a 20% probability of not having to stop, they would
perhaps have a 40-50% probability of that with the system in place, depending on the
intersection.
The degree to which other traffic is disrupted depends largely on traffic density in
general and on how many priority vehicles happen to be in the area at any given time,
he admits, but local traffic authorities can easily mitigate the effects by reducing
priority for HGVs during the rush hour to compensate. As long as you have a normal
penetration of HGVs in a normal urban environment and youre not close to saturation,
we found the average situation improves, he comments.
Besides, in many ways, other vehicles also benefit when HGVs are kept moving. What
often happens at an intersection is that an HGV is the first vehicle to stop, because
there is often a gap in front of it due to its poor acceleration. That not only means there
may be a lot of vehicles behind it that also have to stop, but also that its the first to
get moving again, and because of its slow acceleration it holds other vehicles up again.
Thats two inefficiencies you get so giving HGVs a bit of priority also benefits other
traffic.

Next steps
Energy-efficient intersection control of a similar kind is now to be employed in
Compass4D, a new EU co-funded three-year project that was launched in January and
will see deployment of the technology at locations in seven European cities: they
include an extension of the Helmond system to nearby Eindhoven, as well as fresh sites
in Bordeaux (France), Copenhagen (Denmark), Newcastle (UK), Thessaloniki (Greece),
Verona (Italy) and Vigo (Spain). Its not yet determined which suppliers will provide the
system, but the intersection control will again be via RSU and OBU and is likely to
provide similar benefits in term of carbon emissions and fuel consumption, suggests
Turksma.
The Compass4D project will, however, be more broadly targeted, taking in private cars,
taxis, buses, emergency vehicles and freight vehicles over 330 vehicles in all. It will
also test two other types of safety system using RSU to OBU communications: red light
violation warning, which will alert both the driver of a vehicle that looks likely to violate
a red light and other drivers in the area of the impending risk, both via the OBU screen
and with an audible alert; and forward collision warning, which will forewarn drivers of
congestion or queuing ahead as a result of traffic volumes, road works or an accident.
The first functioning sites should be up and running early next year, says Pierpaolo
Tona, project manager at Ertico-ITS Europe, which is coordinating the whole

Compass4D project.
There is a lot of enthusiasm in the consortium he says. We will start installation of
RSUs and OBUs early next year. Then there will be a three-month period of baseline
measuring, before we move to full operation with all the vehicles. All of the trials should
be ready by mid-2014.
All three safety systems red light violation warning, forward collision warning and
energy-efficient intersection control will be implemented in all seven cities. In one
case Bordeaux RSUs will not just be deployed at intersections but also on three
dangerous curves on the citys ring road.
Tona confirms that in terms of fuel and carbon emissions, similar results are expected
to those of Freilot. Whats less clear, he says, is what accident reduction might occur,
since establishing a reliable baseline is very difficult. We have some estimates on
energy consumption, based on the results of Freilot. On safety, however, we cant really
be as precise as historical data are not really identifiable by particular intersection. Its
something well be looking into in more detail as the project progresses, he says.
As with Freilot, large vehicles will be given priority at intersections to help get them out
of the way as soon as possible. Although they dont get any priority at intersections,
meanwhile, the inclusion of cars and taxis in the Compass4D project will still smooth
their passage through junctions too. Even vehicles which arent granted priority, can
be given speed data to help smooth their approach and ensure they pass the light on
green, Tona points out.

Seeking standards
It remains to be seen just what the specification will be for RSUs in the Compass4D
project, but the plan, says Tona, is to advance global standards in such systems.
Transport experts from both Japan and the US are involved via secondment agreements
with the European Commission and Compass4D will build on this tri-lateral cooperation.
Soon, representatives of the Compass4D project will be visiting the Ann Arbor Safety
Pilot in Michigan to evaluate their work, he reveals.
The target is to have a single specification or, if not, to at least make sure that
systems of different RSUs and OBUs will communicate with each other. We dont want
different parts of the world using three different RSUs, he comments.