Gridsmart predicts quantum leap for cyclist safety

First published in ITS World Congress Preview - October 4, 2019

Gridsmart will use the ITS World Congress to highlight a new software release, Version 19.3. The company says the new release delivers a quantum leap forward for cyclist safety, providing safe and adequate clearance time for cyclists to cross busy intersections.

Version 19.3 protects cyclists where they are most vulnerable: it sees cyclists into, and all the way through, the intersection and responds with green extensions based on their real-time actions. As the company points out, its system doesn’t cater to the slowest common denominator or guess how long a cyclist might take to clear an intersection. Green time is saved for cyclists that quickly clear the intersection and increased for slower users who require an extension.

According to Gridsmart, other vendors simply provide long green times whenever they think they see a cyclist at the stop-line. Long green times are not based on the individual cyclists or their path through the intersection, but on statistics meant to protect slower travellers. When every cyclist is treated as a statistic, green time is wasted for faster cyclists, and the slowest riders might be put in harm’s way.

Booth 472