Edmonton is testing out Canada’s first smart traffic signals — so how do they work?

Olga Messinis, director of traffic operations for the city of Edmonton, introduced Wednesday the technology behind new adaptive traffic signals from the corner of Edmonton’s bustling entertainment and arena district. During hockey games, concerts and other special events, it not unusual to see police managing traffic at that intersection…

Councillor Andrew Knack, who has long championed improved transportation solutions, noted that when similar technology was deployed in Pittsburgh, those corridors saw about a 20 per cent reduction in vehicle travel time.

“If this works the way we’ve seen in a spot like Pittsburgh, then this could be rolled out across the city,” Knack said. “So LRT intersections, all arterial roads — to me, there’s really no limit to where we want to put this, assuming it works the way we think.”
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