cars news 10: Audi Debuts Traffic Light Information Feature in Las Vegas

This month, Audi is rolling out a new feature that informs drivers of the remaining time they have left to sit at a traffic light. For now, the feature is only active in Las Vegas, which has been set up with the necessary technology to communicate traffic light information to certain Audi cars.

Traffic Light Information is a new feature available on 2017 Audi A4, Q7, and A4 Allroad models built after June 1, 2016 and equipped with an Audi connect PRIME subscription. Through a 4G LTE data connection, these cars receive signal information from the traffic management system. Audi has paired up with Traffic Technology Services, an information provider for connected cars, to help facilitate the transfer of traffic light data to Audi vehicles.

A countdown appears on the instrument cluster letting drivers know the amount of time they have until the light turns green. In the long run, traffic light data can be used to trigger a car’s engine start/stop feature at the right time, optimize routing on navigation systems, and recommend a speed at which the driver can make the most green lights.

Las Vegas is the first city to go live with Vehicle-to-Infrastructure communication technology. Audi says it will expand the availability of its Traffic Light Information feature to other cities across the U.S. as V2I infrastructure expands.

Source: Audi