Big-data empowered traffic signal control could reduce urban carbon emission - Nature Communications
www.nature.com
Big-data empowered traffic signal control in China can reduce vehicle trip times, creating potential reduction of 31.73 million tonnes (Mt) of CO2 emissions annually and US$31.8 billion benefits per year.
  • TheGrandNagus@lemmy.worldEnglish
    4·
    2 months ago

    No they aren’t. They’re saying smarter traffic systems are an improvement over what we have now. I’ve looked in the article and nowhere do they say cars aren’t a problem, or that emissions is down to traffic lights not cars.

    I see so many examples on here and on Reddit of people letting perfect be the enemy of good.

    Whether we like it or not, cars will be around for a while. It makes no sense to put zero effort into improving efficiency in the meantime. You don’t have to be so all-or-nothing.

    • deltamental@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      2 months ago

      Yes, and such intelligent systems can also optimize for pedestrian traffic, reducing the time waiting for a walk light, monitor bike lane usage, track dangerous intersections, improve emergency response times, prioritize buses and trams, etc. It’s good for people to be gathering this data and trying to make things better.

    • yetAnotherUser@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
      01·
      2 months ago

      And next year the congestion will be the same as before, except with even more cars and even more emissions.

      This is equivalent to building another lane on a highway to increase throughput and decrease traffic jams. In the beginning, emissions will be reduced since traffic jams occur less frequently. And then, through induced demand, there’s congestion again.

      Improving car throughput directly leads to increased emissions with a small delay.

      From the paper:

      Increased speeds from adaptive signals may induce additional travel, as people opt to drive more or travel farther, potentially offsetting some congestion benefits. Our models do not fully capture induced demand due to data limitations, but adaptive signaling generally supports higher traffic volumes and smoother flows.

      • TheGrandNagus@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        2 months ago

        Doesn’t go against my comment at all.

        Like they said, it could lead to more people driving. Not only are they uncertain, is it likely to be by an amount that would be more than the emissions saved?

        Let’s look at this from another angle. What do you think we should do? Every government on Earth suddenly decides to destroy every car on the planet within the next few months?

        Like I said, cars will continue to exist for a while. It makes no sense to put your hands up and say “well, cars are bad. But if they can’t be eliminated completely then we shouldn’t attempt to reduce vehicle emissions at all”.

        This change is a good one. I’ve said it already, but you’re letting perfect be the enemy of good.