Austrian traffic technology supplier Swarco has deployed the country’s most advanced traffic light system as part of a revitalization project in the center of the Tyrolean market town of Wattens, where the company is based.
The 8,000-population community has a newly designed meeting zone in the town center where Swarco has installed its latest technology to control the intersection with Wattens’ primary route, the B171 (Tiroler Strasse). The company has deployed its new X-Line technology platform that works with decentralized intelligence and controls traffic light systems via a CAN-based network (Control Area Network), which brings part of the control intelligence directly into the ultra-energy-efficient COMBIA LED signal heads. Compared with previous LED technology, the new COMBIA signal heads combined with X-Line technology show a 90% lower power consumption.
The advantages of Swarco’s new traffic light system are also evident in terms of cabling and civil engineering. It is no longer necessary to connect every red, amber, green and pedestrian signal directly to the control unit on the roadside. A cable bus, which is continued from mast to mast, reduces the use of materials and simplifies the connection of the entire system on the power and communication side enormously. The traffic light system is also designed in such a way that public transport is given priority at the intersection by means of wireless radio messages. The COMBIA and X-Line product range has also been developed to be compatible with Internet of Things (IoT) and Cooperative ITS systems for smart city deployments.
“The electrical and optical properties of the signals are monitored directly inside the LED traffic lights. This not only increases functional reliability, but also helps to reduce the energy requirement by more than 98% compared to the conventional light source, the incandescent bulb,” said Swarco Traffic Austria’s managing director, Florian Kogelbauer. “With a power consumption of only 1W per light module, the signals consume only 1 to 1.5% of the energy of traditional traffic lights; a clear plus for the environment and a clear minus in operating costs.”
Wattens Mayor Thomas Oberbeirsteiner is pleased with the successful implementation of the traffic technology, “I am very proud that in Swarco we have an innovative, holistically thinking and globally active partner directly in our market community. At our new meeting zone, we now have the most energy-efficient and safest traffic light system in the country.” 
