(Fri 19 Sep 08)

One of the worst things about driving in cities, as far as fuel economy and CO2 emissions are concerned, is the business of having to stop and start at traffic lights. Audi is involved in the development of a new system which could make that a thing of the past.

The basic problem is that traffic lights don't tell you when they're going to change. But in Ingolstadt, Germany there are three sets which do exactly that - and their messages can be picked up by modified Audi A5 and A6 Avant models which tell their drivers the speed they have to be doing to pass through the junction when the lights are green.

Those three sets of lights are part of a network of 46 (known as Travolution, rather unfortunately) which are all linked to the same software. Their phasing is optimised to improve traffic flow, but sending this information to cars can only improve the situation further.

The €1.2 million pilot project still has some way to go. A further 50 sets of lights, and 20 more Audis, will be introduced as the experiment continues.

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