- California’s first “smart freeway” can hold drivers at ramps for four minutes.
- Officials say longer ramp waits could reduce overall travel times by 20% or more.
- The system relies on algorithms and sensors, not artificial intelligence.
Traffic is an issue of plenty of cities across the USA, but few states know it the way California does. Mitigating the issue usually involves more lanes, hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars, and construction that slows traffic even more for weeks or months on end. Temecula is going to try something different, and it all starts by stopping some cars altogether.
Along an 8-mile stretch of northbound Interstate 15 between Temecula and Murrieta, transportation officials have launched what they describe as the state’s first “smart freeway.” Rather than widening the road, the $33 million pilot project uses sensors, coordinated ramp meters, and computer algorithms to control how vehicles enter the freeway.
Read: A $20 Fix Helped This City Cut Traffic Deaths To Zero…