Audi along with their partners including the city of Ingolstadt’s Office for Traffic Management and Geoinformation, the Professorial Chair for Traffic Engineering at the Technical University of Munich, and GEVAS software GmbH, have developed a new fuel saving and eco-friendly driving concept.

Audi AG described this as “trend-setting concepts for traffic infrastructure to promote eco-friendly driving”. The Travolution team unveiled its concepts for the traffic infrastructure of the future today. Around Ingolstadt 46 traffic lights have been using new software that optimises the entire traffic light network in the contral area of the city, reducing the time cars are stopped at the traffic lights, and the stop and start nature of city driving.

The second part of the project consists of three traffic lights equipped with communications modules, these modules send the time for the next green phase to the car’s onboard computer. The Travolution team named this part of the project “The informed driver”.

Audi has provided an Audi A5 and an Audi A6 Avant to test this part of the project. The drivers are informed via the Audi MMI system, the traffic lights send a message to the drivers saying at what speed they need to drive at in order to drive through the intersection without having to stop.

Additional follow-on projects based on Travolution are to be carried out by the venture partners. The research in Ingolstadt is to be expanded by another 20 cars and 50 traffic light installations. In addition, up-to-the-minute traffic information for the city will keep drivers better informed.