Detroit is testing whether its existing connected traffic infrastructure can help emergency vehicles move through intersections more quickly and safely. The 90-day pilot is taking place at five intersections in Corktown’s Transportation Innovation Zone, where selected Detroit Fire Department vehicles can automatically request a green signal as they approach a junction.
The system combines location information from equipment already installed on fire department vehicles with connected traffic signals. When an emergency vehicle approaches, its position triggers a request for signal pre-emption, allowing the intersection to change phase before the vehicle arrives. Other road users are given additional time to stop or clear the intersection.
An important aspect of the pilot is that Detroit is not building a new roadside network specifically for the project. Much of the underlying connected intersection infrastructure is already deployed across the city, while the emergency vehicle pre-emption functionality is being added at compatible intersections. The pilot is also being conducted at no cost to the city.
The trial will assess whether the technology can reduce delays at intersections while improving safety for firefighters, emergency medical crews and other road users. Detroit has not yet committed to a wider deployment; the pilot is intended to establish whether the benefits justify further investment.
The same principle could potentially be extended beyond fire services. The city says police vehicles could also use emergency pre-emption, while public transport can benefit from a related but distinct approach known as transit signal priority. The distinction is important: emergency pre-emption temporarily changes normal signal operation to give an emergency vehicle priority, whereas transit signal priority generally seeks to improve bus or tram reliability while maintaining the wider traffic-management objectives.
Detroit's Transportation Innovation Zone provides a useful environment for testing this kind of technology before considering broader deployment. Rather than treating connected infrastructure as a standalone innovation, the pilot demonstrates how existing traffic systems can be adapted for new operational purposes.
For cities, this is a relatively practical direction for ITS development: better performance does not always require entirely new infrastructure. Sometimes the greater opportunity lies in connecting the systems that are already in place and using them more intelligently.
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ANDREWS, Jonathan. Detroit tests traffic signal priority for firefighters. Cities Today [online]. 2026_10_03 [cited 2026-10-06]. Available:
https://cities-today.com/detroit-tests-traffic-signal-priority-for-firefighters/
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