City of Vancouver partners with Google AI to improve traffic flow, reduce idling | Daily Hive

City of Vancouver partners with Google's Green Light AI program to improve traffic flow and reduce idling

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The City of Vancouver has joined a Google initiative that uses the company’s artificial intelligence (AI) and Google Maps driving data to recommend optimal efficiency changes to traffic signal timings.

The City’s pilot project, using the company’s research project called ” Project Green Light,” officially began on July 17, 2026, and will continue until the very end of 2027. The partnership with the multinational corporate giant has zero cost to the municipal government.

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Google will analyze aggregated driving trends collected through Google Maps, along with specialized machine-learning models, to identify intersections where changes to the traffic signal timings could improve vehicle traffic flow.

Upon inquiry, the City told Daily Hive Urbanized the company will provide the municipal government with recommendations intended to reduce unnecessary stops, vehicle idling, and greenhouse gas emissions.

The recommendations will be advisory only. The City emphasizes the municipal government will retain full control over its traffic signals and will decide whether any suggested timing changes should be implemented.

Google will not connect directly to or integrate its technology with the City’s traffic-signal systems or other infrastructure. The City will also not provide Google with proprietary infrastructure information, including its existing signal timing plans or other operational traffic signal data.

The agreement was made directly with Google without a competitive bidding process because Green Light relies on the company’s proprietary Google Maps data and closed machine-learning platform. The City can withdraw from the initiative at any time by providing Google with 60 days’ notice.

vancouver traffic congestion google maps

Google Maps showing vehicle traffic conditions on Vancouver’s roads, as of 5 p.m. on July 28, 2026. (Google Maps)

Example of Google’s Project Green Light dashboard for Rio de Janeiro. (Google)

Since its launch in 2023, Green Light already has about 20 participating cities worldwide, including Rio de Janeiro, Hyderabad, Hamburg, Manchester, Boston, and Seattle. In 2025, Quebec City became the first city in Canada to use Green Light to optimize its traffic light cycles, with the company reporting last year that it has helped Quebec’s capital city optimize 13 key intersections.

According to Google, over the past few years, Green Light has shown the potential to reduce stop-and-go vehicle traffic by up to 30 per cent and estimated carbon dioxide emissions by up to 10 per cent at urban intersections. As of Summer 2025, on a global scale per month, over 55 million vehicles cross intersections that have been optimized by Green Light.

Green Light uses driving trends and AI to estimate how traffic signals currently operate and how vehicles typically move through an intersection. It looks at factors such as signal cycles, wait times, stop-and-go patterns, and coordination between nearby intersections throughout the day.

The system then recommends possible changes to signal timing. City traffic engineers in the partner municipal governments then review and make any adjustments before potentially implementing them through their existing systems. Google later measures whether the changes reduced the number of stops and improved traffic flow, and estimates the resulting reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. To date, the company has not charged any partner city for the use of its data and services.

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