The Smart, Cheap Fix for Slow, Dumb Traffic Lights

Fewer than 3,000 people died in Japanese car crashes in 2021, compared to almost 43,000 in the United States. This is due to introducing initiatives like the Shinkansen, the world’s first bullet train, which is safer, quicker, and oftentimes more accessible than traditional cars, thus eliminating the need for residents to drive themselves.

The Vision Zero campaign aims to eliminate traffic deaths around the world. So far, Hoboken has made several changes to its streets and transportation policies to increase safety, such as repaving crosswalks to increase visibility, building curb extensions and adding bike lanes to roads. With these new safety measures in place, the city hasn’t reported a single traffic death since January 2017 and traffic-related injuries have dropped 41%.

Vision Zero is a traffic safety framework that works to eliminate traffic fatalities. Since adopting the program, Jersey City has gone a full year without a single traffic fatality. City officials have also been engaging residents to participate in viewing demonstrations of new, safe road developments and sharing their thoughts on what the city’s roads need to be safe and efficient as local leaders continue to make improvements to encompass more of the surrounding area.

Caltrain's $2.4 billion electrification of 51 miles of track replaced diesel trains with faster electric ones, resulting in ridership increases (it doubled on weekends) and shorter trips. This also led to an 89% reduction in riders' exposure to toxic pollution and an estimated 250,000 metric tons of annual carbon emissions reductions.

The Connecticut Green Bank's Solar MAP+ program acts as a "public developer" that bundles, finances, and directly develops solar projects for schools and municipalities that private developers avoid. To date, they've installed nearly 54 megawatts of solar, programmed to save $57 million in energy costs.

The Red Cloud smart city project is greatly improving local residents’ quality of life and leading to reduced crime rates in the city. The project installed new LED streetlights with AI-enabled overhead cameras, Wi-Fi access in homes that didn’t have access previously, as well as air quality monitoring devices. Since the new improvements were made, morale in the city has significantly improved and there are plans in place to scale the program and improve neighboring cities, as well.

Since it began operating in 2018, the Pulse has become one of the most successful bus rapid transit services in the country, leading to other states adopting similar systems. The Pulse is a cost-effective public transit mode that has dramatically increased ridership despite a national trending decline. In June 2021, the Pulse had carried almost five million passengers and counting.

Home builders in the United States are producing homes up to 50% quicker with modular housing. This process involves manufacturing different parts of the home in a factory and assembling all of those parts on-site.

Babcock Ranch, Florida, weathered Hurricane Ian with minimal damage and full power because of development decisions like installing solar power, underground infrastructure, and building every building above code.

Gipave is a new type of asphalt technology that combines plastic waste with bitumen, a material already used to pave roads, to make recyclable road surfaces with longer lifespans and reduce emissions from road work by 70%.