Barcelona has chosen two companies, Kapsch and Acisa, to test artificial intelligence in the management of traffic lights at intersections in the city. Each will receive 100,000 euros for a four-month pilot, which the city treats as phase 0 of deploying AI in its traffic signal management. The selection closes the latest challenge of the Barcelona Innova Lab Mobility (BILM), founded by the city council and Fira de Barcelona.
What was decided
The challenge drew 26 proposals, 19 of them international, from 14 countries. The pilots will run at the scale of a corridor or zone with several intersections. The winners will adapt the infrastructure and install sensors, a necessary step before applying AI. The execution phase will last at least 4 months. The projects are expected to start at the end of the year and to be carried out in a specific area of the city by the end of 2027.
Two approaches
Kapsch’s Matcab adapts signal timings in real time to the demand at each junction, instead of working with fixed times. It uses reinforcement learning based on many simulations and one agent per junction, with junctions coordinating to avoid moving congestion from one point to another. It can hold objectives prepared in advance, such as priority for pedestrians or public transport, or an emergency mode for ambulances and firefighters.
Acisa’s Mobia creates a digital copy of the road network, predicts what will happen next and coordinates all junctions of a corridor. Data will reach a central platform through sensors and V2X connected-vehicle systems. Its multi-agent AI can pursue goals such as pedestrian priority, public transport or lower emissions. It needs minimal intervention on existing infrastructure and keeps the current system as a reference.
| Pilot | Company | Total budget | City funding |
|---|---|---|---|
| Matcab | Kapsch | 358,185 euros | 100,000 euros |
| Mobia | Acisa | 177,865 euros | 100,000 euros |
Background and next steps
The project was developed with the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) and is the first step in a roadmap set out in a study by the city’s Mobility area and the UPC. The winners were presented at a BILM session at Tomorrow Mobility, part of the Smart City Expo World Congress. At the same session, Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB) and the Autoritat del Transport Metropolità (ATM) formally joined the BILM as partners. The lab also presented its next challenge, “Barcelona Connected Mobility”, which will test solutions based on V2X connected-vehicle technology and will be launched soon.