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Greensboro Using Technology To Help Make City Roads Safer

Downtown Greensboro. KERI BROWN/WFDD

Some Greensboro motorists will soon have access to new information that could make driving safer.

While the Gate City already has an advanced traffic signal system that collects data, some of it will now be shared with drivers. The city is partnering with a company to provide some of that information.

The pilot program will use what's known as connected vehicle technology to send real time traffic information to drivers. For example, motorists will be able to see a countdown on their dash when a light will become green or will be given information about what speed they should drive to catch the next green light.

It's not available at this time for all vehicles, only newer-model Audis equipped with a certain package.

The goal is to help drivers make better decisions on the roadway, reduce congestion and reduce emissions.

Chris Spencer is with the Greensboro Department of Transportation. He says the data will also be used to make improvements in the city's traffic system.

“It tells us more about 'are our signals timed appropriately, are vehicles arriving on red when we want them to be arriving on green,'” says Spencer. “It helps us kind of make decisions, so it's data that we can turn around and use to make our system better.”

Spencer says the Greensboro City Council will have to approve the program. If it gets the green light, the city will start sharing the traffic signal information with drivers sometime this summer.

*You can follow WFDD's Keri Brown on Twitter @kerib_news

Keri Brown is a multi-award winning reporter and host at 88.5 WFDD. She has been honored with two regional Edward R. Murrow awards for her stories about coal ash, and was named the 2015 radio reporter of the year by the Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas (RTDNAC).Although she covers a variety of topics, her beats are environmental and education reporting.Keri comes to the Triad from West Virginia Public Broadcasting, where she served as the Chief Bureau Reporter for the Northern Panhandle. She produced stories for the state's Public Television and Radio programs and was honored by the West Virginia Associated Press Broadcasters Association for her feature and enterprise reporting.She also served as an adjunct instructor at Wheeling Jesuit University and Bethany College in West Virginia. She worked with the Center for Educational Technologies in Wheeling, WV, and other NASA centers across the country to develop several stories about the use of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) concepts in the classroom.Keri's journalism career began at WTRF-TV 7 in Wheeling. She worked in several roles at the station, including the head assignment editor. She also was a field producer and assignment manager at WPGH-TV Fox 53 in Pittsburgh.Keri is a graduate of Ohio University. When she's not in the studio or working on a story, she enjoys watching college football with her family, cooking, and traveling.Keri is always looking for another great story idea, so please share them with her. You can follow her on Twitter @kerib_news.

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