May 2, 2008

Increasing gas mileage was the focus of a new University of Virginia study, and the results are music to most drivers' ears.

An assistant professor at UVa is studying traffic signals. What he has found may help the environment and ease some of that pain at the pump.

Drivers are dealing with record gas prices. Assistant Professor of Engineering Brian Park says his recent research findings may help.

"If you spend time collecting data and set a model and doing optimizations not only for fuel consumption or emission but for mobility’s, it can be very effective," Park says.

Park has been studying computer models of what drivers are really seeing out on the roads.

"We can compute the entire fuel consumption and emission as well as other mobility measures, travel times and number of stops and delays," Park adds.

According to Park, traffic lights can be set such that drivers can improve fuel consumption and emissions with slightly longer travel time.

His research also found that both travel time and fuel consumption can be improved if everyone on the road travels similar speeds.

"What makes higher fuel consumption is basically having a bunch of people driving different speeds and conditions that generates more attempts to make lane changes, [or to] try to beat the light," he continues.

So, Park plans to continue to improve his methodology, and hopes to see his findings to be implemented by traffic engineers.

Slowing down for fuel economy is not something unique to drivers. Just this week, Southwest Airlines announced that they began flying their planes slower about two months ago. They guess it will save $42 million dollars in fuel this year alone by extending each flight by one to three minutes.

Park has started an additional study on the role enforcement of speed limits and how they play in optimizing traffic signals.