With these apps on your iPhone, the traffic light jumps faster

Waiting for the red traffic light for a long time is no longer necessary. With these apps on your iPhone, the traffic light turns green faster.

With these apps on your iPhone, the traffic light jumps faster

In Flanders, more than 200 intersections have recently been provided with smart traffic lights. By using an app on your iPhone (or Android device), the traffic lights know when you approach them and they can turn green. This is of course only as long as the traffic allows. After the Netherlands, Belgium is the second European country that makes this possible.

You don’t have to do a lot to participate. You only have to use certain navigation apps. It is striking that the really big names are not yet fully cooperating. At the moment only have Flitsmeister,, ” Karta GPS and Sway Full support for the system.

There are all kinds of conversations with Google Maps and Waze, among others, but for the time being without too much results. In addition, contacts have also been made with car manufacturers and companies such as TomTom to get this technology in cars as standard.

You also benefit from some of these programs on the bike. But there are also specific apps for the avid pedal knight. So is the app Schwung A handy help to get the traffic light on green faster.

The app can be used in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Almere, Breda, Dordrecht, Emmen, Lelystad, Noordoostpolder, the municipality of Haarlemmermeer and the province of Flevoland. The exact locations of the intersections in these places can be found on the map in the Schwung app itself. The app is free to download from the App Store.

Ivri’s and traffic detection: that’s how it works

The traffic lights that collaborate with these apps are also called ‘Ivri’, these are intelligent traffic control installations. You will find around 5500 throughout the Netherlands. The Ivri uses data from your smartphone, car and more to shorten waiting times. They use your route, the type of vehicle and the time, among other things.

Standard traffic installations use a detection loop. This is a copper wire under the road surface with which vehicles can be detected. This signal is forwarded to the traffic light so that it can allow the traffic to drive as well as possible.

You can see more about these smart traffic lights in the video below of the Rhineland Route. Here they also go further into the difference between standard traffic lights and intelligent traffic lights.

For example, a traffic light with a upcoming truck can leave the light on green for longer, so that the flow becomes better. The truck also needs to brake or give gas, and therefore the emissions of exhaust gases also decrease.

Which traffic light is green first?

But who will first get ‘priority’? The road manager chooses that, but there are also special cases. For example, truck drivers can buy special apps that give them ‘more’ priority.

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