DETROIT, Mich. — Detroit is testing new technology that could change traffic lights ahead of fire trucks, giving emergency vehicles a green light through intersections faster.
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The Detroit Fire Department has teamed up with Haas Alert and Miovision on a system that uses cloud, GPS and cellular connectivity on intersections and inside fire trucks to signal traffic lights to clear the way for emergency vehicles.
"In this business, seconds are important," Detroit Fire Department Chief of Fire Operations David Nelson said. “A fire doubles in size in 30 seconds. If you’re on a medical response, those seconds could be the difference between your loved one being here, or not.”
A fire truck equipped with the technology triggers a signal change when it approaches an intersection — as close as 150 feet out. Cross traffic receives a yellow light to slow down, followed by a red light to stop, before the fire truck reaches the intersection.
Miovision Focus Accounts Director Michael Wieck said the system is designed to prevent conflicting signals.
"At each intersection you have a controller that coordinates the lights to make sure that you don't have conflicting...that not everybody has green at the same time," Wieck said.
The city is approximately 30 days into a 90-day pilot program running on select intersections within Corktown, within the Transportation Innovation Zone. The zone allows companies to test their products within the city, and the pilot is being run at no cost to Detroit, according to the Head of Special Projects for the Mayor’s Office of Mobility Innovation, Konner Petz.
“We actually have a longstanding relationship with Miovision, so being one of the early adopters of course we keep a pulse on new technology coming in all the time, and this was one of the really interesting technologies we thought the city could benefit from," Petz said.
Previous pilots in smaller cities have shown a 70 percent reduction in crashes involving emergency vehicles and 25 percent faster arrivals to scenes. Detroit would be the largest city to implement the technology if it moves forward.
“The whole point is to make emergent responses safer and faster," Miovision Chief Technology Officer Shobhit Jain said.
Current Detroit Fire Department response times are 7 minutes and 30 seconds or less. Nelson said not having to fully stop at every light on the way to an emergency could be a significant improvement.
"We're always looking to improve, no matter how good those numbers are," Chief Nelson said.
After the 90-day pilot concludes, the city will determine whether to invest in and permanently adopt the technology.
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