Knowing how to time stoplights is a key element to driving. You don't want to stop completely at a stoplight when it's just going to turn green immediately. That's a waste of gas! You want to slow down just enough to catch the light as it's turning green again. It's the efficient way to drive, don't you see.
Well, Audi is currently testing out an ingenious system that would tell you exactly when lights you're approaching are set to change. The "Travolution" project networks cars with traffic signals wirelessly, showing you exactly when the upcoming light is going to change and how fast you should be going to clear it. This will not only improve fuel efficiency, but it should make traffic flow a lot smoother. How awesome would it be if this became standard in all cars and on all roads? Maybe someday.
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By davidg6356 at 6:24 PM ON 09/22/08
sounds dangerous to me.Too many people trying to beat stop light now.
By TheTreveller at 6:57 AM ON 09/23/08
I agree but I think that that may be what they are trying to prevent. I mean it seems like if you'd be able to see when it turns green and how fast you have to go to beat it'd work the same for turning red.
By Johnkobam at 7:53 AM ON 09/23/08
25 years ago Reutlingen in Germany had a system on it's ring road called "The Green Wave" - based on a series of signs every 50 mtrs or so it told you what speed to travel at in order to arrive at the next lights on green. It was possible once started to travel across many junctions on the "Green wave" arriving at each just as they turned green. Only unexpected delays such as a slow tractor or breakdown would stop your unimpeded travel round the ringroad! Fantastic - I never understood why it was not more widely implemented.
By WiFiGuy at 10:08 AM ON 09/23/08
While this seems like a great system, it doesn't take into account pedestrians. Pedestrians rarely cross when they should, and always expect cars approaching a red light to be braking. If a care 10 yards away is actually continuing on toward a red light because the driver knows it's about to go green, that pedestrian doesn't have the same knowledge and may effectively walk directly into traffic that has no intention of stopping.
By jheylin at 2:09 PM ON 09/23/08
I agree with TheTreveller. To me it'd just encourage people to floor it when the light is about to turn red, or use the timer for when it turns green as a countdown to floor it off the line.
By zermatt at 5:19 PM ON 09/23/08
With all of the people I see running red lights I don't think that the American driving public is ready for this. I can see my new Audi TT being smashed as I enter the intersection keeping time with the green lights by some idiot that doesn't know the difference between yellow and red.
By RfCa at 12:31 AM ON 10/13/08
Not sure it is so efficient. More speeding and more tickets for speeding are likely.
By rytmitz at 1:38 AM ON 11/08/08
Nice Audi feature.