BOSTON (WHDH) – Boston city officials this week announced a new partnership with Google aimed at using AI to tackle traffic congestion on local streets.
Dubbed Project Green Light, the program puts AI to work to model traffic patterns and recommend traffic signal timing adjustments.
In a statement Thursday, officials said they started working with Google on Project Green Light in February and have, so far, made changes at four intersections in the Fenway-Kenmore, Mission Hill, and Jamaica Plain areas.
“We know that even small tweaks can go a long way with traffic,” Mayor Michelle Wu told 7NEWS.
Traffic analytics firm INRIX in 2023 ranked Boston as the eighth worst city in the world for traffic delays.
“One of the most frustrating parts of living in a major city is traffic, so Boston is taking every step to combat congestion and get people to where they need to go,” Wu said.
Google product manager Matheus Vervloet said Project Green Light pairs AI with Google Maps technology to analyze intersections and create recommendations for municipal traffic engineers.
In Boston, officials said they examined hundreds of intersections and noted a 50% drop in stop-and-go traffic after heeding Project Green Light recommendations at the intersections of Huntington Avenue and Opera Place, and Amory Street and Green Street.
Project Green Light is currently operating in 14 cities across the world. Boston and Seattle were the only US cities invited to join for free.
Moving forward, Boston officials said city engineers are considering implementing additional recommendations from Project Green Light later this year.
“This is one piece of something that we know could be a bigger part of the solution,” Wu said.
“We’ve seen great potential to reduce unnecessary stops and reduce emissions and pollution,” Vervloet said.
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