Intersection priority system [roads]

When traveling to and from an emergency, an emergency vehicle encounters delays due to obstacles on the road such as intersections, roundabouts and traffic jams. In some cases these delays can be a matter of life or death. This paper looks at this problem in relation to an actual intersection on the Gold Coast, Australia. The small geometry and high congestion during peak times at this particular intersection requires a solution, which cannot be readily attained by civil engineering works. This paper examines the possibility of implementing radio frequency (RF) technologies to ensure that emergency vehicles can negotiate such an intersection safely and efficiently. This assists in reducing traffic delays by better traffic management. The possibility of broadening this technology beyond a discrete intersection and towards a network-based solution is also analyzed in this paper by using GPS (Global Positioning System) technology.