A group of researchers at Carnegie Mellon University has developed virtual traffic lights that they claim can help people avoid traffic and get home much quicker.
By replacing physical lights with these traffic lights, the research team says people who work in urban areas can cut their commute time down by 40 percent, according to CNN. The lights use green and red arrows on the driver's dashboard to show the safest routes for drivers to take and then disappear once that move is made.
Additional benefits for using virtual traffic lights include a reduction in carbon emissions and less accidents on the road.
"With this technology, traffic lights will be created on demand when [two cars] are trying to cross this intersection, and they will be turned down as soon as we don't need it," said Ozan Tonguz, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University, who played a role in the lights' creation.
Virtual lights use the same connected vehicle technology that Tonguz says lets cars communicate with one another and could help "manage traffic control at intersections without infrastructure-based traffic lights," CNN reported.
Through the U.S. government's vehicle-to-vehicle communication program, connected features would be made mandatory for all cars.
"It's almost like we are giving additional life to people," Tonguz said. "Life that is wasted on the road."
