City launches green-light pilot project

The City of Winnipeg has launched a pilot project to evaluate the benefits of a system where emergency vehicles can automatically trigger green lights.

The pilot project started this week and will end on March 25.

Bids for a contract to conduct the project closed on June 28. The request for proposal stated the project would involve 10 intersections and 130 emergency vehicles. The City of Winnipeg said Friday that the technology has been installed at 17 intersections along Osborne Street and at several other intersections in the area.

Ambulances and fire trucks that regularly respond to emergencies along that corridor are now equipped with transponders that automatically trigger green lights in their direction of travel, the city said. That gives motorists a better opportunity to move out of the way. The traffic lights will return to their normal operations after two light cycles, the city said in a news release.

A feasibility study conducted in 2022 found emergency vehicle pre-emption technology could potentially reduce response times by up to 20 per cent and decrease the number of collisions involving emergency vehicles by 25 per cent. The study also predicted the technology would benefit patients and reduce health-care costs.

The Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service and the city’s signals branch will prepare a report outlining the potential next steps after the pilot project is over.

fpcity@freepress.mb.ca