Plzeň gives fire engines an automated green light at ten Lochotín intersections in a new pilot program. The cooperative transport technology communicates vehicle movement to intersections and notifies drivers via in-car displays before sirens sound.
Emergency responders racing to a call in Plzeň no longer rely solely on sirens, flashing roof beacons, and the goodwill of drivers attempting to clear a makeshift rescue lane. Plzeň marks the first city in the Czech Republic to test this infrastructure in active traffic, targeting ten busy intersections along Lochotín to speed up transits originating from the Plzeň-Košutka fire station. The city has initiated a pilot deployment of an advanced traffic control network designed to detect approaching emergency apparatus and adjust signal cycles ahead of time.
Plzeň Deploys C-ITS Technology on Lochotín
The new deployment relies on cooperative intelligent transport systems known as C-ITS. The fire engine continuously transmits its exact position, heading, and movement data, allowing the central management platform to map a predicted trajectory. Previous methods operated primarily on isolated, local triggers.
Intersection controllers can receive notification of an approaching fire engine with up to a two-minute head start, according to Jan Vítek of the national expert team for C-ITS. The control architecture must clear pedestrians safely and halt cross-traffic before opening a clear lane for the heavy truck. If crews alter their course due to traffic conditions or changing incident details, the technology recalculates the path in real time, canceling demands on the original route while preparing junctions on the new path.
Fire Crews Measure Seconds at Košutka Station
Station commander Michal Pathy noted that personnel responded to nearly 1,300 incidents in 2025. Every minute or tens of seconds play a crucial role, for example, when starting resuscitation or extricating someone from a crashed vehicle,
Pathy explained. At a structural fire, conditions can alter drastically within thirty seconds as flames or smoke block escape routes or trigger explosions.
Jiří Vítek confirmed that testing across the ten Lochotín intersections will run until the end of the year along Studentská Street from the Košutka station exit toward Plaská Street. Pathy also emphasized safety benefits for the drivers themselves, noting that driving through red lights without automated clearance creates stressful stops and starts.
Then acute operation will follow, and the plan is to correspondingly equip all intersections in Plzeň.
Jiří Vítek, National Expert Team for Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems
In-Car Alerts Reach Drivers Before Sirens Sound
Drivers of compatible vehicles can receive dashboard warnings about approaching emergency units before hearing sirens or seeing flashing lights. Michal Vondra, a specialist at Škoda Auto, detailed that drivers know about them earlier than they hear the siren or spot the warning beacons, and they can react in time and without stress.
Škoda models integrate this capability via the Traffication app built into the infotainment system, and Volkswagen vehicles display similar notices.
Daniel Kůs, a city council member responsible for SmartCities, expressed hope that the infrastructure will eventually expand to support police and medical rescue units. City officials and municipal partners including the Ministry of Transport and the Road and Motorway Directorate are collaborating on the pilot. Fire services record fewer total runs than other emergency branches, but their heavy apparatus places the most demanding requirements on road geometry.