Inside the building of the Flemish road authority Agentschap Wegen & Verkeer (AWV) the Steering Committee eye witnessed the latest developments and future possibilities of using smart traffic lights.

In this demonstration a portable traffic light was installed in the room next door, and under the guidance of Bart Lowyck the Steering Committee witnessed another use case on smart traffic lights: safe crossing for blind people. 

The idea is that the application recognizes the proximity of the smart traffic lights, and communicates to the blind people about either a red or green light by different frequencies of vibrations.

In the recreated zebra crossing, Kristof Rombaut volunteered as the blind person. He was blindfolded and he was given the phone with the application. When the frequencies of vibrations changed, he should recognize that the traffic light turned green and he can safely cross the road. And indeed, despite loss of sight, Kristof new exactly when it was safe to cross this virtual road.

Beautiful examples of new developments that can be used in the daily operation.

The smart traffic lights can, for example, recognise emergency vehicles that have to pass a crossing as quickly as possible. The lights on the crossing will turn green in favour for the emergency vehicle.

During the presentation, the audience was presented with videos showing the functionality of intelligent traffic lights.