To solve traffic woes, Mandaue to put up AI-powered traffic lights

The pedestrian refuge island at the intersection in front of Pacific Mall, located at the corner of UN Avenue, has been removed as part of a new traffic scheme.| Photo by Mary Rose Sagarino

MANDAUE CITY, Cebu – Mandaue City is tapping into Artificial Intelligence (AI) as part of its plan to address traffic congestion in its busiest streets.

The city government will install AI-powered traffic lights at the intersection of U.N. Avenue and M.C. Briones St. in Mandaue City located in front of Pacific Mall.

These smart traffic lights aim to improve traffic flow by adjusting in real time to the current conditions, said Hyll Retuya, head of the Traffic Enforcement Agency of Mandaue (Team).

The installation of the new traffic lights will be fully implemented by end of February. At the same time, they will introduce new traffic schemes to complement the improvements, Retuya said.

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The AI system will monitor traffic at the intersection and change the timing of the lights based on the number of vehicles waiting.

“When you speak of AI, naa siyay sensor nga kung muabot siya at a certain point, moGo siya. Dili siya fix, adaptive siya, depende sa volume sa vehicles nga nakaqueuing,” said Retuya.

This technology, the Team chief added, will also help reduce delays and make traffic management more efficient by responding to the changing volume on each road.

“Pananglitan, ang atoang sensor gibutang sa may Tabok, kung maabot ang cueing sa Tabok, mubuhi na siya automatic, dili na necessarily nga mohuwat siya sa number nakareflect sa traffic light,” Retuya added.

Redesign, Traffic Schemes

As part of the redesign, the traffic light has already been moved.

Other changes included the removal of the pedestrian refuge island and a reconfiguration of the southbound lanes.

The new traffic scheme will also introduce four southbound lanes: two heading toward Cebu City and two for left turns toward Lapu-Lapu City.

Likewise, the route for vehicles heading to Consolacion and the northern part had been adjusted to utilize the roads to the bridge above the Butuanon River adjacent to M.C. Briones St.

Previously, only vehicles from Lapu-Lapu City used the two-lane bridge at the right side of the intersection.

“As a result, volume na gyud ang habwa ani, tanan proceeding to Cebu City, to north, and U.N Avenue. Kana’ng gihimo nato ron nga zipper lane, mahimo na na siya nga permanent dedicated lane to U.N Avenue,” said Retuya.

In the city’s 2022 traffic count, the southbound routes were the most congested.

Traffic from Barangay Tabok to Barangay Maguikay reached 13,510 Passenger Car Units per day.

From Tabok to U.N. Avenue, it reached 12,606 Passenger Car Units per day.

The city plans to extend the use of AI-powered traffic lights to other intersections to improve traffic flow citywide.

In the meantime, work on the center island will be completed, with sensors and new signage put in place to guide drivers through the redesigned intersection.

Retuya assured that construction will take place at night to avoid disrupting traffic./mme