news

NSW to trial traffic light communication for trucks

The New South Wales government has announced a trial of vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) technology to tackle increasing congestion on Sydney’s roads.


Transport for NSW says that by reducing the number of times trucks stop at traffic lights, the connected vehicle technology should improve travel time at over 100 intersections across Sydney, which will result in smoother and faster commuting for motorists.

NSW roads minister Duncan Gay said that the technology should reduce delays caused by heavy vehicles and could expand to buses and emergency vehicles in the future.


Above: Increasing congestion levels cost Sydney $5 billion a year

“The trial will detect a heavy vehicle approaching traffic lights and provide more green time, which will hopefully show us how we can ease delays for all motorists across the whole network in the future,” he said.

“Heavy vehicles take a long time to stop and start which can cause delays for all road users.”

“We could potentially expand the use of this kind of technology to emergency vehicles and buses which could improve daily commutes - the opportunities are vast,” he added.


Above: Cohda Wireless specialises in connected vehicle technology

The project is being delivered in partnership with Australian company Cohda Wireless, who specialises in connected vehicle technologies - including its sophisticated V2X-Radar system, which utilises vehicle-infrastructure (V2I) and vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) connected technologies allowing vehicles to ‘talk’ to and ‘hear’ the world around them.

A total of 110 trucks will take part in the trial, using the latest Cooperative Intelligent Transport System (CITS) technology, which allows connected vehicles to ‘talk’ to road infrastructure.

The smart infrastructure will be installed on key freight corridors such as sections of Pennant Hills Road, Parramatta Road and King Georges Road in Sydney.

Traffic monitoring by the Transport Management Centre will continue throughout the trial to ensure traffic continues to flow, while traffic lights can override the wireless technology if necessary.

“The results of this project will inform the way we look at incorporating connected vehicle technology in other vehicles,” Mr Gay said.

“[It is] a key step towards making Sydney infrastructure-ready for connected and automated vehicles in the future.”

“Congestion costs Sydney $5 billion each year. With congestion increasing we are looking at all of our options and putting in place immediate measures to tackle congestion while work on major road projects such as WestConnex and NorthConnex continues,” he added.

Chat with us!







Chat with Agent