MIT researchers propose 'eco-driving' to cut city emissions by up to 22%

A new study from MIT researchers has found that “eco-driving” measures, where vehicle speeds are automatically controlled to reduce stopping and idling at intersections, could significantly cut carbon emissions in major cities. The research — published in Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies journal — used an advanced AI to model traffic at thousands of intersections in three U.S. cities.

The analysis revealed that the full adoption of eco-driving could cut annual city-wide intersection carbon emissions by 11–22%. The system works by dynamically adjusting vehicle speeds to mitigate traffic, a strategy that the study found would not slow overall traffic throughput or negatively affect safety.

The researchers suggest that eco-driving could be implemented through speed guidance on smartphone apps in the near-term. In the longer term, it could involve intelligent speed commands sent directly to semi-autonomous and fully autonomous vehicles.

To make things more interesting, the study showed that the benefits could be realized without large scale adoption. Even if only 10% of vehicles on the road use eco-driving, cities could see 25–50% of the total potential CO2 reduction. This is because non-participating cars would naturally follow the smoother traffic flow created by the controlled vehicles. Also, the team found that targeting just 20% of a city's most important intersections could yield 70% of the total emission benefits.

This is almost a free intervention. We already have smartphones in our cars, and we are rapidly adopting cars with more advanced automation features. For something to scale quickly in practice, it must be relatively simple to implement and shovel-ready. Eco-driving fits that bill. — Cathy Wu, the study's senior author.