Smart phones can provide music, movie times, bus schedules. They can even make phone calls! And now, they might help ____1____ fuel use while driving. That is, if enough are used in a system called SignalGuru developed by researchers at MIT and Princeton.

A network of smartphones____2____vehicle dashboards captures and transmits images of traffic signals. The SignalGuru software then analyzes the data to predict traffic signal patterns. If the light ahead is red, the driver is told the optimal speed to avoid stopping and____3____. Or told to make a slight route change that avoids a stop. Because idling and accelerating significantly increase fuel consumption.

The system was tested in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where traffic lights are on a set pattern, and in Singapore, where signals respond to traffic flow. Drivers____4____their fuel use by about 20 percent on average. The study won a____5____at the Association for Computing Machinery’s MobiSys Conference.

The researchers say the platform could work for a variety of driving tips—prices at gas
stations, or parking availability. And a bonus: with the phone mounted on the dashboard, you can’t text and drive.
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