Brisbane City Council is rolling out the first AI-assisted traffic light operating system in Australia, with the technology to analyse and control vehicle flow at 37 intersections from early next year.
The AI-traffic system will use traffic cameras, edge computing and artificial intelligence to analyse traffic conditions along the city’s Logan Road and Kelvin Grove Road pilot corridors.
“Time stuck in traffic is time people aren’t spending with their families, earning an income or doing the things they enjoy,” said Lord Mayor, Adrian Schrinner.
“Keeping Brisbane moving is good for our economy, good for jobs and good for our lifestyle because a more efficient city gives everyone more time back in their day.
“Brisbane is growing quickly and we can’t simply build our way out of congestion, particularly through established suburbs.
“We’re investing in smarter technology that can get more out of the roads we already have and help people get where they’re going sooner and safer.
“We’ve already bucked the trend by reducing congestion while Brisbane continues to grow and AI traffic management is about building on that progress.”
The system is able to optimise signal timing in real time to improve safety and travel times across an entire road corridor. It does this by determining traffic volumes and queue lengths and calculating the best traffic light sequence.
It will be the first Australian use of AI technology to coordinate different sets of traffic lights to improve travel time across multiple intersections. City of Moreton Bay Council is also set to launch an AI traffic control system trial at one intersection later this year.
“Brisbane will be the first city in Australia to usher in a new era of intelligent traffic management and we plan to do it on a grand scale,” said Council Chair for Infrastructure, Councillor Ryan Murphy.
“We are only just scratching the surface of what AI Traffic Management can do.
“We scoured the globe for leading technology that was effective, reliable and safe, and one that kept our citizens’ movement data private and secure.
“While this pilot will focus on two corridors, adding AI technology to our traffic network will allow us to run Brisbane’s 5000-kilometre road network and 1000 signalised intersections far more efficiently.
“We’re confident the rollout of AI traffic management will see measurable travel time, reliability and safety improvements across the Logan Road and Kelvin Grove Road corridors.
“This solution complies with all of Council’s IT security requirements. It also protects sensitive personal data by blurring faces and number plates and uses local Council owned and operated data centres.”
The technology will connect with Council’s existing traffic signal system (SCATS) and work at both State and Council-controlled intersections.
The system will protect the sensitive personal data of Brisbane residents by blurring faces, number plates and any other personally identifiable information, Council confirmed in a statement.
“To further protect privacy, all data gathered will be stored in Council-owned and managed data centres across four Brisbane locations and will not be sent offshore,” Council stated.
Travel time and safety benefits include:
- Up to a 15% reduction in average travel time;
- Up to a 22% reduction in intersection queue lengths;
- Up to a 12% reduction in rear-end crashes;
- Up to an 18% reduction in red-light violations.
The six-month pilot will cover 15 intersections on the Kelvin Grove Road corridor and 22 intersections on the Logan Road corridor.
More than 62,000 vehicles use Kelvin Grove Road a day, with a further 30,000 using Logan Road daily.
The pilot will be delivered by a consortium featuring Australian-owned company J1-LED, one of the world’s largest engineering consultancies WSP and Intelligent Traffic Control.
The consortia was selected following a highly competitive tendering process that saw 19 bids eventually whittled down to two, before a winner was selected.
If the pilot is successful, the technology will be rolled out across the wider road network, the Council said.
