As part of the original VITAL project, Tostmannplatz was chosen as a test site for the VITAL procedures. This is located in the north of Braunschweig and represents a complex traffic signal junction from a traffic engineering and traffic planning perspective. Both the loss-time-based and the cooperative procedure for individual junction control were successfully implemented and tested in 2016.
Magnetic field sensors were installed in the individual access lanes at Tostmannplatz as detection technology. The validation of the procedures resulted in a reduction in the time lost for road users compared to the original control system. Due to the status as a DLR innovation intersection, both methods are in principle still available at Tostmannplatz for research purposes if required.
In other projects, forward-looking functions have already been demonstrated in conjunction with the VITAL procedures. These include, for example, the use or integration of real V2X information for vehicle detection and the provision of feedback to road users about the status of traffic lights via V2X and the corresponding output of speed recommendations for approaching the junction. On this basis, it has even been possible to carry out automated driving manoeuvres taking the recommendations into account.
