ORLANDO, Fla. – Perhaps nothing is more frustrating for drivers than mistimed lights during their commute, and a new study suggests that artificial intelligence could fix this.
Frank Chaput, a driver, shared how often he finds himself stuck at lights that feel out of sync.
“I live in east Orlando, so on Colonial, I’m there all the time, and it takes two or three cycles to get through a red light,” he said.
[See why one study says traffic lights aren’t just out of sync in Florida, but outdated in the video below]
Drivers are fed up with the delays, and AI might be the solution. Jeff Brandes, president of the Florida Policy Project, discussed the study titled "Best Practices: Signalized Intersection Investments" with News 6.
“We think the best return on investment that we can spend on transportation right now is actually in improving our existing infrastructure, traffic light signal system, by utilizing machine learning and artificial intelligence, it’s just an emerging field,” he said.
“In some cities that have done this, they’ve seen a 25% reduction, at intersections or at certain intersections using this technology of wait times, which obviously, addresses, greenhouse gas emissions, addresses safety concerns, makes traffic flow much more efficiently,” he said.
Brandes explained that the study reveals that Florida’s traffic lights are not only out of sync but also outdated.
“Our traffic light signals have really not changed since the ’40s and ’50s in a significant way,” he said.
“We’re really kind of in a new generation of ability and capabilities where the cost has come down radically to, to upgrade our traffic signalization, using kind of a best of class, system that a number of companies are developing.”
The study looked at over 16,000 intersections around Florida and found the average traffic delay here is 20.4 seconds — nationwide, it is 18.1.
“The simple truth is my smartphone is radically more advanced than most of the traffic signals that we see,” Brandes said.
The proposed changes would not involve replacing traffic signals but rather installing sensors and cameras on the existing ones to adjust the lights in real time.
Implementing these changes could reduce traffic without the need to add more lanes.
“Building roads and lanes of roads sometimes takes months or years. Once the project starts. This is a much faster way to improve, without having to dig up streets and dig up sidewalks and move pipes,” Brandes explained.
It could also make roads safer for both drivers and pedestrians. Data from 2019 to 2023 found that 26% of crashes in Florida are related to intersections.
“This is how we’re going to deal with 23 million residents and 130 million tourists is we’re going to have to make these types of investments,” Brandes said.