Australia’s first synthetic intelligence (AI)-powered visitors lights are set to be examined in Queensland, the place they’re anticipated to enhance each visitors movement and pedestrian ready occasions.
The Metropolis of Moreton Bay has introduced it would change into the primary council in Australia to trial the expertise, with the AI-powered visitors alerts to be put in on the intersection of Moreton Parade and Paper Avenue in Petrie, north of Brisbane, later this yr.
The council plans to develop the trial to busier intersections if preliminary testing proves the AI-powered alerts are efficient at lowering visitors congestion.
“We’re excited to be the primary in Australia to trial expertise that has the very actual potential to enhance the movement of visitors round our highway community,” stated Moreton Bay Mayor Peter Flannery in a press release.
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“The expertise successfully makes use of each AI and superior algorithms to tell optimised visitors operations beneath a brand new visitors administration strategy.
“Which means increased visitors flows of autos together with public transport might be prioritised dynamically all through the day.”
The trial will assess the advantages of adjusting visitors gentle phases and pedestrian crossing occasions primarily based on reside visitors situations, one thing the council says the prevailing visitors lights – which date again to the Nineteen Eighties – can not do.
“There’s the potential to considerably scale back the time motorists spend unnecessarily sitting at crimson lights, which is usually constrained by legacy visitors management strategies, and this may be extraordinarily irritating particularly when there are not any vehicles in sight,” Mayor Flannery stated.
“This presents the chance to cut back emissions as autos will idle much less at visitors lights.
“Plus, for the primary time, visitors alerts might be adjusted by particular person actions utilizing superior visitors detection sensors so congestion might be higher managed together with when autos flood our native highway community.”
The trial requires the prevailing visitors alerts to get replaced with new {hardware}, together with superior sign detection sensors to offer the info wanted for the AI system to make real-time selections.
AI has already been deployed in visitors sign programs abroad. The US metropolis of Pittsburgh presently makes use of AI-controlled visitors alerts at round 50 intersections, and has plans to develop that quantity to 200.
In keeping with Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Mellon College (CMU), its Surtrac real-time visitors administration system makes use of AI to allow visitors alerts to “speak to one another” and make particular person selections primarily based on approaching visitors.
CMU says the system reduces journey occasions by as much as 25 per cent and cuts automobile idling time by as a lot as 40 per cent, lowering gas consumption, working prices and emissions.
Australian motorists have gotten more and more aware of AI-powered expertise, not solely in new autos but additionally by way of the widespread use of AI-powered enforcement cameras to detect rushing, cell phone use, and seatbelt offences.
AI has additionally been used to enhance pedestrian security at one among Australia’s busiest intersections, with dramatic outcomes. A ‘world-first’ trial at Manly in Sydney’s Northern Seashores reportedly reduce dangerous crossings by greater than a 3rd in 2025 by utilizing sensible cameras, AI knowledge processing and adaptive visitors lights to securely transfer crowds pouring off ferries and buses.
In keeping with the NSW Authorities, the expertise delivered a 34 per cent drop in individuals within the variety of pedestrians stepping out on the flashing crimson man on the intersection of The Esplanade and Belgrave Avenue, the place pedestrian numbers can surge from a dozen to greater than a thousand in minutes.
When the system detects a surge, it routinely provides individuals extra frequent or longer green-walk alerts, lowering wait occasions and stopping harmful crowd spill-over onto the highway. In November 2025, the Minns Authorities stated it will set up a second website within the Parramatta CBD in 2026.
Additionally in 2025, Toyota instructed CarExpert it intends to make use of AI tech as a part of a worldwide venture to cut back the variety of visitors accidents to zero.
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