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Audi Travolution System
Audi Puts More 'Go' Into Stop-and-Go
If police officers in Ingolstadt notice a decrease in luxury car drivers running red lights these days, we suspect it's because of a new project piloted by Audi that lets drivers know exactly how long before a traffic light turns. According to Audi's press release, the system is meant to prevent "frustrating, fuel-sapping stops at red traffic lights." After all, the last thing you want to see when you're driving your brand-new S5 is a red light. We're liking Audi engineers more and more each day.
Dubbed Travolution, the project depends on communications modules built into traffic lights. Those modules transmit signals to the Audi Multi Media Interface (MMI) which, in turn, shows the driver whether he or she is able to proceed safely and if so, what speed he or she must maintain in order to make it through before the light turns red. Even better, if there's no oncoming traffic, your Audi can make the light turn green. Of course, if Ed Bradley is driving, chances are the car will unintentionally accelerate even if his foot is on the brake.
In a world filled with revenue-producing red-light cameras linked to yellow lights shorter than William Hung's career, Travolution is a refreshing escape that makes driving more efficient and more fun. Audi's press release contends that Travolution "could also dramatically reduce the number of actual stops needed by creating a communications link between cars and the traffic light network." In other words, a Travolution-equipped traffic light could in real time sense how many cars are waiting to turn at each branch of an intersection and adjust its signal accordingly. This will come as no surprise to the tinfoil hat brigade, who think that government agents wielding magical TV remotes are already controlling the world's stoplights.
We like the added safety benefit of the dashboard speed guide for when you don't know whether it'd be safer to slow down or speed up for a yellow light. Slam on the brakes, and you'll waste gas and risk being hit from behind (42 percent of signalized accidents). Speed up, and you'll risk a traffic ticket or a side-on collision (28 percent of signalized accidents). Traffic engineers refer to this phenomenon as "the dilemma zone." This writer refers to it as, "Sorry, officer, I thought it was going to stay yellow for longer."
Sadly, the project is only an experiment in Audi's home city, so we will have to rely on the old trick our driving instructor taught us: The yellow light should hold for as many seconds as the leading digit of the speed limit of the road. After all, if Travolution catches on, that excuse won't hold up in court.