According to an article on the VRT website the users of two apps (Flitsmeister or Karta GPS) can turn the lights green sooner because those apps can now communicate with certain traffic lights (map in the article below). The reason they give is so traffic from secondary roads can switch the light to green if there’s no traffic on the main road. But I’m thinking this might have the adverse effect. Because most people I know, don’t use gps apps for local trips in familiar territory, they use it for longer journeys, when you don’t know the road/directions. So I think this will more than likely have the effect that locals will have to wait longer and passing traffic will get priority, because they drive with those two apps.

I’m having many questions on this. I’m wondering if they ever held an open tender and if not why a government thinks it’s OK to work with two minority market positions (quid: state aid law?) and thus to exclude a majority userbase of different GPS-apps (that are probably mostly using Waze, Google maps, Apple maps, Tomtom and the likes). Why is there no open or semi-open API for the integration of different services?

Because now, the way this is organised, this all looks a bit elitist and exclusionary. Just my two cents, feel free to change my mind or share a different (or just your) point of view.

[https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/2023/05/17/straks-met-een-verkeersapp-sneller-door-het-groen-aan-een-verkee/](https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/2023/05/17/straks-met-een-verkeersapp-sneller-door-het-groen-aan-een-verkee/)

10 comments

  1. So instead of the old fashioned analogue way(using a sensor or magnetic loops) we are going to use yet another way?

  4. According to statements in the news bulletin the government reached out to all important players. They just don’t care. I mean, if Google doesn’t care, then you already lose Google Maps and Waze.

  6. The privacy expert makes the only valid point here: this is completely unnecessary.

    A few smart camera’s or pressure sensors would do the job more reliably but of course then our government’s it partner can’t make tons of money selling off your data. This system isn’t in the interest of the people, it’s just about money for an IT company that the government gets to pick.

  7. Never even heard of Flitsmeister or Karta…

    I’m an avid Waze user, I use it for nearly every ride/drive because the live traffic info is just useful to have. If this would be integrated in the major GPS apps on the market, that would be great, but I fear there are so many out there it might be hard to really include as much people as possible.

    I know there are these “smart” traffic lights with a sensor on top. The one on the intersection from the Gellenberg to the Staatsbaan in Lubbeek worked really well for me (10 years ago), so what’s wrong with using those systems?

  8. >”Je ziet dan ruim vooraf al of het verkeerslicht rood of groen is, en over enkele maanden zal je ook weten hoe lang het licht nog op rood zal staan, zodat je je snelheid op voorhand kan aanpassen.”

    Oh great more people that are seemingly randomly going to switch from driving 20km/h slower than the speedlimit to drive 20km/h faster than the speedlimit to catch the orange light.

  9. What I would like is for apps to give the real time for green lights and provide a recommended speed to follow in order to hit all greens.

  10. For everyone that keeps saying they should look more to the Netherlands, that is exactly what they did. The Netherlands use a very similar system, also with Flitsmeister, and Flanders said, we want this too.

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