Hundreds of millions for the economy: the revolution that will affect traffic jams in Israel
In recent years, the Netivei Israel company has deployed about 170 adaptive traffic lights based on artificial intelligence in an attempt to analyze demand and adapt in real time to the situation on the ground. Globes reveals the efficiency data of those traffic lights.
Traffic congestion is only increasing, and it seems that without a significant and massive shift to public transport, the coming years will only get worse. However, in recent years, the Netivei Israel company has deployed about 170 adaptive traffic lights based on artificial intelligence (AI) in an attempt to analyze demand and adapt in real time to the situation on the ground. Globes reveals the efficiency data of those traffic lights.
The Netivei Israel sample included 25 intersections representing various scenarios, and it shows that the average savings at each of the intersections during the day amounted to about 25 seconds per vehicle. At the Fureidis intersection, through which about 80,000 vehicles pass per day, the total savings are estimated at about 771 hours per day. At the entrance intersection to Kiryat Tivon, a reduction of up to about 56 seconds per vehicle on average was measured — 679 hours per day. Netivei Israel also estimated the economic contribution to the economy, and the analysis shows that in an annual calculation, the deployment of 100 intersections could generate a benefit of more than half a billion shekels for the economy.
Green light in real time
In fact, the regular traffic lights we all know usually operate according to pre-set time schedules based on periodic traffic counts. However, the reality on the road is constantly changing: demand rises and falls, load directions shift, and sometimes an unexpected event occurs. The adaptive traffic light works differently: cameras installed at the intersection identify vehicles and analyze demand and queue lengths up to hundreds of meters from the intersection. The algorithm adjusts the traffic light times to the situation on the ground in real time.
The system was developed in recent years by the ITC company in collaboration with the Operations and Maintenance Division, the Traffic Management Department, and the Engineering R&D Department at Netivei Israel.
"Our aspiration is that within five years, all 750 signalized intersections under the responsibility of Netivei Israel will be adaptive," says Eitan Zilberstein, head of the Technology Department in the Traffic Management Division at Netivei Israel.
"A person encounters an average of about three traffic axes on the way to work, with 5-10 intersections on each," adds Zilberstein. "The estimate is that saving an average of about 10 minutes per trip over a year will accumulate to two weeks of working days. The goal is not just to make more traffic lights smart. If I saved 30 seconds at an intersection but delayed a driver at the next one, I haven't done anything. The real leap will be when the entire axis is adaptive."
