After the introduction of bicycle traffic lights with rain sensors, the Rotterdam city council now came up with smart bicycle traffic lights. These smart bicycle traffic lights measure the number of people waiting based on body heat. If there are many people waiting, the light goes earlier and more frequently to green. The goal they want to achieve with these smart bicycle traffic lights is encourage people to take the bicycle instead of the car. With the optimized bicycle traffic light they want to improve the cycling journey.
Due to the smart traffic lights car drivers have to wait a little longer, but not that much longer. Where cyclists have to wait up to two minutes now, this waiting time will be about thirty to fifty per cent less with the new smart traffic lights. So the longest cyclists will have to wait for a green light is about a little more than a minute.
In my opinion the new traffic lights are a real improvement to my cycling journey. It saves me a couple of minutes every trip I make. Also when it is raining, I will be happier when I am faster at home. Besides that, this innovation is really good for the environment, because if more people are convinced to go by bike instead of a car, there will be fewer emissions. Furthermore, cycling makes people fitter. The government and insurance companies will be more satisfied with a healthier population.
Now there is only one smart bicycle traffic light in Rotterdam as a trial. The trial of the bicycle traffic lights with rain sensors did not really succeed. For now, it remained to the trial period. They did not spread the innovation across the city. Do you think they will spread smart bicycle traffic lights across Rotterdam or even across the Netherlands?
Sources:
http://motherboard.vice.com/nl/read/rotterdam-heeft-nu-een-verkeerslicht-met-een-regensensor
http://nieuws.nl/populair/20160923/slim-fietsstoplicht-rotterdam-meet-aantal-wachtenden/
