Ayalon Highways, Israel's largest transportation and traffic management organization, has announced a partnership with Quantum Art, a trapped-ion quantum computing company, to apply quantum computing to citywide traffic optimization. The collaboration will focus on developing quantum-driven traffic management systems that can coordinate hundreds of intersections in near real time, with the goal of reducing travel time through smart traffic light management. The project will benchmark quantum-accelerated algorithms against leading classical simulation and optimization tools currently in use.
Urban congestion represents a significant economic and environmental challenge, with a 2024 report estimating $74 billion in lost time alone across the United States. Coordinating hundreds of intersections simultaneously presents a complex combinatorial problem that current tools struggle to solve at citywide scale. Tal Elimelech, Director of Experimental Transportation Systems and Innovative Mobility Solutions at Ayalon Highways, emphasized the potential impact of the technology. "Our job is to keep traffic moving across one of the busiest networks in Israel," Elimelech said. "We believe quantum computing can help us manage hundreds of intersections in near real time, to provide benefits to commuters, businesses and the environment."
Quantum Art's architecture, which features high connectivity, multi-qubit gates, and dynamically reconfigurable multi-core computing, is particularly well-suited for network-like optimization problems. This makes the technology ideal for complex traffic coordination across metropolitan areas. Initial efforts will concentrate on reducing average travel time, with longer-term objectives including lowering emissions, shortening pedestrian wait times, and reducing stop frequency. More information about Quantum Art's technology is available at https://www.quantum-art.tech/.
Dr. Tal David, CEO and co-founder of Quantum Art, explained the significance of addressing traffic coordination challenges. "Cities struggle every day with gridlock because traffic systems can't coordinate at scale," David said. "Quantum computing is built for exactly this type of problem. Working with Ayalon Highways lets us demonstrate how our technology can reduce travel times, improve safety, and make daily life easier for millions of people." The partnership represents one of the first large-scale applications of quantum computing to urban infrastructure management. Potential expansions of the technology could include heavy truck routing, bus scheduling, parking optimization, and shuttle services.
The economic implications of successfully implementing quantum computing in traffic management could be substantial, given the scale of losses attributed to urban congestion globally. This collaboration marks a significant step toward practical quantum computing applications that could transform how cities manage transportation infrastructure and address the growing challenges of urban mobility.
