The amount of time driving and waiting at lights could be going down significantly for Edmontonians as the city is installing smart traffic signals.
Smart traffic signals account for real time traffic demands, instead of the current fixed and actuated signals based on historic data and updated every four years.
The new technology creates a smoother flow as it continues to allow vehicles through green lights where there would otherwise be congestion.
“It is counting how many vehicles are coming through a particular intersection, how many are approaching the next intersection, and it's then able to adjust on the fly based off that data that's coming in,” Ward 1 Councillor Andrew Knack said.
Estimates suggest it could cost as much as $150 million to install smart traffic signals at Edmonton’s 1,100 intersections. The 545 intersections that need to be updated by 2019 will be compatible with the possible implementation of smart traffic signals.
“We know that this is just a way of the future so to have this become the new standard is really what we need to do to ensure that we’re gonna have the proper movement to get some people throughout the city,” Knack said.
The City will decide which corridors and intersections will be a part of the pilot project based on potential for traffic improvement.
Administration will present the Smart Transportation Action Plan in September to City Council, along with a capital profile request for 2019-2022.
