Skip to main content

Port of Hamburg launches intelligent traffic light

The Hamburg Port Authority (HPA) in Germany and NXP Semiconductors have partnered on an intelligent traffic light for the port that they claim optimises the flow of truck traffic and guides drivers through the increasingly heavily used port more quickly and safely. The smartPORT traffic light was developed by the HPA in conjunction with its partners NXP, Siemens, Heusch/Boesefeldt and Hamburg Verkehrsanlagen. NXP supplied the solutions for the wireless communication, V2X and RFID, and ensures data pro
June 3, 2015 Read time: 3 mins
The Hamburg Port Authority (HPA) in Germany and 566 NXP Semiconductors have partnered on an intelligent traffic light for the port that they claim optimises the flow of truck traffic and guides drivers through the increasingly heavily used port more quickly and safely.

The smartPORT traffic light was developed by the HPA in conjunction with its partners NXP, 189 Siemens, Heusch/Boesefeldt and Hamburg Verkehrsanlagen.

NXP supplied the solutions for the wireless communication, V2X and RFID, and ensures data protection and security, while Siemens was responsible for the connection to the traffic light and traffic engineering modifications. Hamburg Verkehrsanlagen linked up all the different project members’ technical components for operation and integrated them into the overall system.

The intelligent traffic light enables trucks to be guided around the port more quickly to help reduce CO2 emissions. A special automotive Vehicle-to-X (V2X) wireless LAN communication system allows vehicles to communicate securely and wirelessly with infrastructure elements such as traffic lights, road signs and roadworks. An approaching line of vehicles can communicate with the intelligent traffic light to turn it green or keep it green, allowing the vehicles to pass the light without stopping. In addition, radio frequency identification (RFID) technology allows the traffic light to identify vulnerable road users in the vicinity and, as a result, send automatic hazard warnings to approaching trucks via V2X to prevent accidents.

“The intelligent port is a key component of the ‘Strategie Digitale Stadt’ (Digital City Strategy) adopted by Hamburg’s Senate at the beginning of the year. The innovations currently being tested in the port by HPA and NXP will play an important part in making the port even more competitive and will add to the location benefits for the city of Hamburg: we need intelligent traffic solutions that improve both the safety and quality of life of the people who live here,” says Hamburg’s Minister of Economy, Transport, and Innovation Frank Horch.

“We intend to significantly boost the safety and efficiency of traffic and freight management within the port of Hamburg with our smartPORT projects. This calls for innovative concepts and solutions. Based on its experience and expertise in the areas of intelligent traffic management and secure communication, NXP is a key strategic innovation partner for us,” says Dr. Sebastian Saxe, CIO and chief digital officer at the HPA.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Lidar: recipes for success
    March 28, 2022
    Lidar is being deployed all over the world - and you can even read a cookbook on the subject...
  • Asecap meeting tackles tolling’s future challenges
    March 3, 2017
    Carole Défossé, communication & information manager at Asecap, previews the association’s forthcoming annual meeting. With 72% of Europeans moving by car and 60% of freight being transported by trucks, road infrastructures are central to Europe’s mobility and toll roads form a key part of those networks.
  • ITS America applauds V2I infrastructure Act
    June 5, 2015
    Regina Hopper, president and CEO of ITS America, has responded to the introduction of the Vehicle-to-Infrastructure Safety Technology Investment Flexibility Act of 2015 by US Senators Gary Peters and Roy Blunt. The Vehicle-to-Infrastructure Safety Technology Investment Flexibility Act of 2015 authorizes states to use existing surface and highway transportation funding provided by the National Highway Performance Program, the Surface Transportation Program and the Highway Safety Improvement Program to in
  • Swarco puts the DVSA in control with new prism sign installation
    May 20, 2015
    Five prism signs have been installed Swarco Traffic to manage traffic control approaching an Enforcement Checksite operated by the Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) on the M74 motorway in Scotland. The signs have been installed at strategic points along the M74 by Beattock Summit to guide heavy vehicles into the nearside lane and direct selected vehicles into the weighbridge and inspection area. The signs feature a combination of control solutions with urban traffic management and control (UTMC)