Fuel efficiency is at the top of automakers’ minds these days, with BMW taking an interesting approach towards improving overall efficiency for every vehicle on the road. The German automaker has launched a series of “Green Wave” studies intended to improve fuel economy through smart traffic signals.
We’ve all been there – sitting at a red light with no other vehicles in sight. Not only is this a complete waste of time, it’s also a waste of fuel. However, if BMW has its way, our roads will soon be staffed by smart traffic signals, helping to greatly reduced emissions from idling vehicles.
Dubbed Green Wave, BMW has launched a study to investigate the benefits of smart traffic signals. By using traffic signals that are able to adapt to changing situations – such as traffic accidents, traffic patterns and congestion – BMW researchers were able to nearly double the mileage of a 530d sedan from 22 mpg to 42 mpg. BMW admits those results were under ideal conditions, but the German automaker predicts smarter traffic signals could realistically improve fuel economy by 10 to 15 percent.
As it stands now, the average traffic signal system here in the U.S. is between 30 and 40 years old, making them extremely inflexible. However, BMW says our systems can but updated rather inexpensively, resulting in a big improvement with a small investment.
“Think about the money that’s being spent to save one, two percent…and with a relatively small investment you could save much more,” Dirk Kessler, the department manager for the BMW’s Traffic Technology and Traffic Management group, told The Car Connection. “There is no witchcraft, there is only a bit of engineering,”
BMW has been meeting with U.S. DOT officials about its findings over the past several weeks. The German automaker is also working on a system that would allow cars to communicate with other vehicles on the road as well as traffic systems.
11/13, 12:50 PM
posted by:
darkwingduck
Hmm, nice to know. Good on ya BMW. Now to improve it further put the current V8 from the M3 in the M5 and M6, and the M3 back to the I6. I miss the I6.
11/13, 12:50 PM
posted by:
darkwingduck
Sorry
NMOFGM is an idiot. thank you
11/13, 12:53 PM
posted by:
DenverGuy217
Dear Denver City management idiots. Please read this article and prepare to invest in these. Then maybe, just maybe you will take down the current signals that have been placed on many streets in areas where there are no cross street. “to control traffic congestion” is the reasoning. The only thing they do is CREATE traffic congestion by stopping one or two cars so that another 20 can catch up to them and idle all together at those odd locations. ARGH sorry needed to vent
11/13, 1:14 PM
posted by:
JakeK66
My bro is the guy who programs the lights for the state streets in MO – I wonder how he would feel if BMW sad anything to the workers about how to manage the lights and putting sensors in cars. I think something like “Go Fvck Yourself” would be in the response.
11/13, 1:55 PM
posted by:
Borat
Jake, that is exactly how government responds
On a serious note a little bit of behaviour modification would save a lot fuel for our (N/A) society. Why completely stop at a stop sign? Why not roll over at slow rate of speed? Those stops would save a lot of fuel, without much impeding safety and probably saving us from a lot of back splash injuries. I believe there traffic lights already installed, I actually recall rolling back force to activate a sensor in front of them. In NY there are mainframe working on light synchronization. Of course, BMW is not aware that most of municipalities are as broken as GM is and new system is outside of budget for a few years.
11/13, 2:40 PM
posted by:
05Z88Path
The worst is coming up to a red light, wait, and then travel just a block or two and hit another red light which was a moment ago green with no one even there…arrrghhh. A smart traffic traffic system would be welcome indeed, but a lot can already be done with conventional timing to get traffic lights in sync with each other.
11/13, 3:50 PM
posted by:
MaytagRepairman
BMW, make a system where the half of Seattle that can’t drive the speed limit in the rain have to pull over.
11/13, 4:12 PM
posted by:
Lawnchair88
Maytag brings up an excellent point. Traffic lights need to be optimized, but what about all the people on the road who simply can’t drive? Should there be more strict laws about driving UNDER the speed limit than 5-10 MPH over? Has anyone ever seen a cop pull over someone for failure to yeild? (i.e. blocking 78 cars in the fast lane because they are doing the speed limit and won’t merge to let everyone else go around). Not to understate how wasteful it is for a very busy road to have to stop for a light that has just turned red because one car needs to turn left on a smaller crossroad, and the light sensors do not account for the needs of that smaller road and your light stays red for 30 seconds after that one car has turned…moronic.
11/13, 4:15 PM
posted by:
johnnycanuck
Maytag, you’re lucky. Half the drivers in Vancouver can’t do the speed limit even on a good day.
11/13, 4:54 PM
posted by:
leftwingagenda
i learned to drive in northern virginia, where following distances are tight and 10 mph over the limit is the minimum…fast forward to my time in cleveland, where people driving 10 mph under the limit is common…drove me freaking insane…
ultimately, dumb lights that are triggered by time and not traffic flow should be replaced by a smart system…it’d be an interesting infrastructure project, for when we have the money…(that basically means “good idea, but it’ll never happen”)…
11/13, 4:58 PM
posted by:
JakeK66
I feel ya Johnny, especially since I was stuck, in the fast lane, behind a Toyota Camry who thought it was ok to drive 50 in a 60 in the left lane.
So I saw your boys getting fined for fighting my high school friend Cam Janssen. That’s funny as heck considering Janssen started the first fight! No hard feelings, Cam was a dick to us when he played in High School and when I talked to him a couple months ago – still a dick.
11/13, 5:06 PM
posted by:
Sector_15504
Here in LA, somewhat recently they adapted a system called, “Sync” where like in NY, all signals in one direction are green, while all others are red. So atleast you get further will less stopping, unlike how it use to be when u would drive each block and have to wait on the signal because its on its own system.
@ Borat
tried that once, It landed me a stop sign ticket. For not stopping, obviously, i was going 3 mph.
11/13, 7:14 PM
posted by:
armstealer
Am I reading you all correctly in understanding that most of you don’t have sensor-lights? I can’t be, we’ve had them here in rural New England for a decade. Ours still aren’t timed with one another, but we only have 5-6 in town
@Leftwing- It’s funny that you say that, because I’ve always wanted to back to school just so I could write a dissertation on the Economics of Infrastructure Investment, specifically public highway expansion. Right now would be the best time for America to do so.
11/14, 5:34 PM
posted by:
leftwingagenda
you’d be surprised by how many areas don’t have sensor lights…we had ‘em in northern virginia, but there are a lot of lights in cleveland and st. louis that are just timed…
if a proven efficiency-improving system were available today, it would be a good time to implement it in the name of infrastructure…but that’s why i’m a bit negative on it happening, because that system isn’t here today, it’s just in development…and by the time it’d be more mature, who knows what the funding situation would look like…i’d assume any proposed improvements to traffic lights would be lower on the funding priority list than say bridges…
if you’re passionate about it, though, go back to school ;P just make sure when you have that degree it helps you get a job you’ll like more than your current one!