The City of Arlington will install traffic detectors equipped with artificial intelligence to help manage traffic ahead of big events, including the 2026 World Cup.
A spokesperson for the city's Public Works Department said the city is investing $600,000 to buy NoTraffic detectors that use AI "to improve safety and efficiency for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians" at 30 intersections around the Entertainment District.
Arlington's AT&T Stadium is set to host nine games for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Officials expect each game to bring a Super Bowl-sized crowd to the area -- tens of thousands of people.
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The city said NoTraffic detectors collect data to analyze and then predict traffic flow, "adapt to congestion, highlight positive and negative patterns and even communicate between traffic lights to help make the flow of vehicles smoother," helping people get in and out of the Entertainment District.
According to NoTraffic, traditional traffic signals still work on fixed times, while their technology is designed to work in real-time.
“NoTraffic’s plug-and-play AI sensors identify, at the human eye level, different types of approaching road users and calculates their speed and location," the company explains in a video posted online.
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The platform can even detect a car crash and suggest alternate routes to traffic managers, according to the video.
“For the very first time, traffic lights respond to dynamic road conditions in real-time," it explained.
A city spokesperson said they had been using NoTraffic at a few intersections as part of a pilot program. Crews will start installing the new sensors in early 2025, and launching each intersection as it's completed, with a total completion date of early 2026.
Funding is coming from a 2023 bond, as well as the North Central Texas Council of Governments.
The new technology will help local businesses, too, like J. Gilligan's Bar & Grill, which runs buses to and from AT&T Stadium for customers.
Restaurant president Randy Ford said on a game day his buses will transport anywhere from 1,500 to 2,200 Cowboys fans.
For other events, like concerts, he takes hundreds.
"You know what, J. Gilligan, we don't need a Super Bowl every night. But just if they'll just have like a regular Cowboy home game, it'll be huge, you know, nine games like that," Ford said.
He said his buses have already adapted to be more efficient, and the NoTraffic will add to that.
"We have a particular way that we go, and there's a reason for that: Right turns are better than left turns and such as that," Ford said.
He's already preparing in his own way for those crowds on the horizon, too -- adding more restrooms and even renting a building across the street.
"For, you know, a bigger dining area, or if somebody wanted to do some sort of a party or a soccer event," Ford explained.
Ford expects to run dozens of busloads transporting, and feeding, possibly thousands.
"Those nine games, if they if they all approach Super Bowl level, it'll be a real exciting time," he said.
