I encountered a red light once and I encountered red lights all the way. Is the traffic jam caused by traffic lights?

When you are driving on the road and you encounter a red light once, there will be red lights all the way. In an hour's drive, you may have to wait for red lights for 20 minutes. I believe everyone has encountered such a situation, and it is difficult to avoid it whether you are driving, taking public transportation, or even riding a bicycle.

Whenever we encounter such a situation, we will suspect that the traffic jam itself is caused by the traffic lights. Is this true? This inference is obviously emotional, not factual. In fact, we all know that if there are no traffic lights at the intersection to divert traffic, it will be a mess in minutes, and the traffic in the whole city will be paralyzed. But then again, although traffic lights ensure the smooth flow of urban traffic, they are not perfect. If the alternation and duration of traffic lights are unreasonable, it will indeed cause traffic congestion. So what is the basis for setting the time of traffic lights? The most traditional and currently most used method of setting the time of traffic lights is called "timing".

The so-called "timing" is to set the duration of the red light and the green light in advance, and then execute according to this setting within a certain period of time in the future.

So what is the basis for the "timing" time setting method? Of course, it is the traffic volume. Before setting the traffic light time, the traffic volume in each direction of the intersection at different time periods will be counted in advance, such as the traffic volume during peak hours in the morning and evening, the traffic volume on weekdays, and the traffic volume on holidays. Then, the duration of the traffic lights in different time periods will be set according to the traffic volume in different time periods.

This traffic light time setting method is relatively simple, easy to operate, and has a relatively low cost, so it is currently the most commonly used traffic light time setting method. However, the disadvantage of this method is also very obvious, that is, it is not flexible enough. The traffic flow at an intersection is extremely random and is affected by various factors, and is prone to fluctuations.

The traffic volume at the intersection is constantly changing, but the duration of the traffic light is constant, so it will inevitably contribute to congestion in some cases. In order to make up for this defect, another way of setting the traffic light time has emerged, which is called "induction type".

The so-called "inductive" means that the traffic lights automatically sense the real-time changes in traffic flow in all directions of the intersection, and make intelligent adjustments at any time. For example, if the traffic light senses a surge in traffic flow in one direction and a large number of vehicles are stranded at the intersection, the duration of the green light in this direction will be extended. Conversely, if there are no vehicles passing in a certain direction during the duration of the green light, the green light will be ended in advance to allow vehicles in other directions to pass. So how do traffic lights sense the traffic flow in all directions? That is to bury induction coils underground in all directions of the intersection in advance. Compared with the "timing type", the "inductive" traffic light setting is more flexible, so it can better play the role of diverting traffic, but it is still not perfect.

The "inductive" traffic light setting method only takes into account the changes in traffic flow at one intersection, but does not focus on the overall situation, so it is likely to cause a problem, that is, congestion at other intersections due to timely adjustment of the traffic light time at this intersection.

Can this problem be solved? In the past, there was no way, but now we have gradually entered the era of artificial intelligence, and it is possible to solve this problem by using artificial intelligence technology. This future-style traffic light time setting method is named "adaptive". The so-called "adaptive" is to collect traffic flow data in a certain area or even the entire city, and then process this data through an algorithm model to obtain an optimal result, and then pass this result to each traffic light. The traffic light will adjust the duration of the red and green lights in real time according to the received instructions, so as to maximize the smoothness of traffic.

The data collected by the "adaptive" traffic light time setting is very large and not limited to traffic flow. It summarizes the overall traffic conditions in a certain area, such as where an accident occurred, how much impact it will have on future traffic conditions, and how to adjust the traffic light time in the area to minimize the impact of the accident on traffic.

This may sound incredible. Indeed, the "adaptive" traffic light setting is still at the conceptual level. Of course, some regions have already started small-scale experiments. I believe that in the future, this traffic light system relying on artificial intelligence will dominate urban traffic, and it may bring fundamental changes to urban traffic conditions. Traffic lights have never been the culprit of traffic congestion. On the contrary, it is an indispensable part of the smooth operation of urban traffic. In the future, the traffic light system based on artificial intelligence technology is likely to become a powerful weapon to solve urban traffic congestion.

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