GPS can already keep you from getting lost and save you time by avoiding traffic. Now the technology seems ripe for saving the planet, too.

At the International Intelligent Transportation Society’s World Congress in New York last month, we learned about ongoing developments in smart, connected infrastructure development, an exciting field focused on the ability for cars and roadways to share information.

In an interesting application of this technology, Audi and Nissan demonstrated GPS systems that allow drivers to choose the least polluting and most efficient routes. By mapping traffic data down to individual lanes, such systems can show drivers which lanes are least congested, enabling drivers to reduce pollution and fuel consumption.

Going a step further, by interfacing with traffic signals and surrounding GPS units, GPS-equipped trucks and emergency vehicles will be able to prioritize traffic lights to minimize emissions from these heavy polluters, while also balancing traffic flow.

If all that sounds too good, it’s only partially true. The know-how exists, but the infrastructure for GPS systems to communicate with each other and with roadways, and to collect traffic data with such specificity is in its infancy. On the consumer side, it will take many connected cars and portable devices, and cities will have to invest in upgrading a lot of intersections before it will work. And both Audi and Nissan said they have no plans to roll out their systems until the infrastructure becomes more widespread.

Still, we found it encouraging to see technology promising a way to tread a little safer and lighter.

—Eric Evarts