Interview with Tal Kreisler, Co-Founder & CEO at NoTraffic: Bringing Traffic Lights to the 21st Century

Tal Kreisler

NoTraffic develops a platform that brings traffic light interchanges to the 21st century. Our real-time, plug-and-play autonomous traffic management platform uses AI to reinvent how cities run their transport networks, by combining sophisticated, AI-based Sensor Unit (SU), an Optimization Engine (CU) and a Cloud backend for Analytics and Management.

Our platform can detect, categorize, and track all road users – including passenger and non-passenger vehicles, bikes, e-scooters, buses, and pedestrians, offering unparallel capabilities to improve traffic flow, reduce congestion, minimize waiting times and more.

Our platform is already installed at selected intersections in Phoenix, Chandler, and Tucson in Arizona, as well as in the State of California, to name a few.
 
 
NoTraffic - Bringing Traffic Lights to the 21st Century
 

How did you come up with the idea for the company?

 
My co-founder, Uriel, came up with the initial idea, back in 2011. He was driving home late at night and arrived at an intersection, with no on-coming traffic. After waiting for a good 3-4 minutes for Green, he started moving back and forth, seeking that underground pressure sensor. As an engineer by heart, he just couldn’t accept that this is the best we can do.

We founded NoTraffic in 2017 with a mission to fix those bugging waiting times, but as we looked deeper, we realized that this problem is just the tip of the iceberg.
 

 

How has the company evolved during the pandemic?

 
Being part of that foundation ‘layer’ enabling transportation at scale, our platform is mission-critical, 365 days a year, including pandemic times. The Cloud Backend component is a 24/7 Traffic Operations Center we offer municipalities and transport authorities as a managed service. Our primary focus was the health and safety of our employees, adhering to national health guidelines, per each market we operate in.

Furthermore, we had on-going customer engagements and installations, in the field, which meant following strict COVID protocols. During lockdown our employees worked from home, providing them with any office equipment they need. The pandemic was (another) testament to the strength of our team, working in a hybrid model, yet still collaborating and supporting our customers 24/7.
 

What can we hope to see from NoTraffic in the future?

 
We’re only getting started… When we founded NoTraffic in 2017 we realized we’re addressing the tip of the iceberg; 99% of traffic intersections in the US still operate on fixed timing plans, and 75% of intersections are not connected to a network. To enable true mobility, with multi-modal forms of transport, cities must invest in innovative technologies, offering residents value-added services, with traffic flowing safely and efficiently.