MIT Envisions Intersections Without Traffic Lights

MIT's Senseable City Lab has teamed up with the Swiss Institute of Technology and the Italian National Research Council to create the intersections of tomorrow. The aim of this exercise is to replace the conventional traffic lights and at the same time diminish delays, queues, and above all that pollution.

But it isn't as simple as it looks in the video below as there needs to be precise communication between the cars approaching the intersection. And this will only be possible by switching to self-driving/autonomous cars as then the communication between the cars will be better and they would arrive at the intersection at just the right time and wouldn't have to wait in line.

The technology demands the use of a host of sensors and with it of course a fast internet connection. If it isn't so, then the data won't be synchronized between all the cars which could lead to devastating consequences. However, from what we gauge, there will be need of a central system which will help in organising the traffic flow similar to what we see at an airport. The air traffic control is also handled in a similar manner and this probably will require a similar system.

One has to admit that this is a brilliant find and its implementation would make things better for us, well, that's what all technology does right? However, as you watch this video, you see that the system only takes Vehicle to Vehicle (V2V) technology into account. At the intersection here, there are no bicyclists or even pedestrians crossing the road, which form a part of our day-to-day traffic. Now, there needs to be a separate solution for this as well, which would probably help it work.