As the urgency to combat climate change grows, cities across the U.S. are actively seeking innovative strategies to reduce carbon emissions. With climate action plans aiming towards net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, one effective approach involves moving people, goods, and vehicles more efficiently through our cities. The city of Austin, for example, recently released its 2022 Annual Report, and cited many examples of how intersection improvements can reduce delays and carbon emissions.
Sitting at signals not only results in wasted time but also contributes to deteriorating air quality. This year INRIX released their 2022 U.S. Signals Scorecard which provides a comprehensive baseline of signal system demand and performance. Each signal is responsible for 145 metric tons of CO2 per year, making it a prime target for optimization efforts.
To optimize and monitor flow at an intersection, INRIX Signal Analytics gathers data from over 240,000 signals to report primary signal performance metrics such as crossings, delay per vehicle, arrival on green, and split failure rates, among others.
Austin is one of the early adopters of Signal Analytics, promoting it in a 2022 Annual Report by its Mobility Management Center (MMC). The report details how INRIX Signal Analytics helped proactively identify traffic signal performance issues. By the MMC adjusting signal timing using the INRIX Signal Analytics dataset, they were able to on average improve target movement delay by 35% and improved the overall intersection by 23%. This impacted 14 million trips and saved Austin drivers $800,000 in 2022.
Cities can use INRIX data to make smarter mobility decisions. Cities like Austin and Los Angeles Metro have optimized traffic signals and used INRIX Signal Analytics to monitor progress in near real time. Contact us to learn more.