BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Are you sick of waiting around at red lights every morning on your way to work or school? It's an issue across Western New York that comes with a costly solution. But that cost of convenience is one that many say is worth it.
Many areas across Western New York are in the process of rolling out technology that can better time out signals, but there is still a long way to go.
Over the past several months, we have spoken with a number of neighbors, leaders and researchers on this topic for their input as we dive into what can be done at some of our busiest intersections, so you're not "Left on Red."
BUFFALO
The City of Buffalo alone has more than 660 intersections with stop lights, and most of them are not “optimized” to allow the best traffic flow.
7 News’ Michael Wooten has covered out-of-sync signals on Delaware Avenue for more than a decade. When the City of Buffalo re-paved the busy thoroughfare in 2022 – reducing the lanes from two in each direction to just one each way with a turn lane – leaders promised there wouldn’t be more congestion thanks to new technology to detect traffic in real-time.
“It will actually be a faster ride,” the then-commissioner of public works told Wooten at the time. But fast forward to 2024, and you’ll often still encounter stop-and-go traffic on Delaware Avenue.
Wooten timed out a trip on Delaware from North Buffalo to Downtown in 2013, 2019, 2022 and again this month. During the most recent tests, he recorded his fastest trip ever at 14 minutes and 15 seconds. He was stopped or braking just for just 4 minutes and 20 seconds. But during one busy morning commute, he recorded the longest trip ever at 20 minutes and 11 seconds and was braking or stopped nearly half the time.
“Obviously, we want to make it as easy as we can for the traveler,” said Nate Marton, Buffalo’s current commissioner of the Department of Public Works.
Marton said five different intersections on Delaware are now equipped with Miovision cameras, which detect traffic and make real-time adjustments.
“Just recently, we noticed that one of the turn lanes (at Delaware and Delavan) had about five extra seconds that was just unneeded for the traffic,” said Nolan Skipper, Buffalo’s deputy DPW commissioner for engineering. “So essentially, we take that five seconds from that turn lane, give it back to Delaware… to alleviate some of that backup that might be occurring.”
While the other intersections on Delaware don’t have cameras yet, they will soon have GPS sync technology so they can all communicate with one another to improve the overall flow of traffic. At $3,000 to $5,000, the sync technology is not as expensive as the cameras, which can be upwards of $20,000 per intersection.
Niagara Street currently has the GPS sync and will get cameras in the future. Right now, if something happens on Interstate 190 and traffic is diverted onto Niagara, the signals can be adjusted from City Hall.
“We can get kind of a streamline going up Niagara Street as an alternative to the 190,” Marton said.
Once the GPS sync goes live on Delaware Avenue, it will be a fully “connected corridor” from Niagara Square up to Forest Avenue. Signals north of there are owned by the New York State Department of Transportation.
The City of Buffalo has also installed some cameras along Allen Street and in South Buffalo, along with a few other random intersections. The goal is to install the detection cameras each time there’s a major construction project.
“(The older technology) costs are starting to be just as close to the Miovision costs for cameras,” Skipper said. “So we’re really just going to Miovision at most of our intersections."
Dr. Henry Liu, an engineering professor at the University of Michigan and director of the Center for Connected and Automated Transportation, says it’s money well spent.
“Signal re-timing has a benefit/cost ratio roughly about 40 to 1,” Dr. Liu explained. “So every $1 you put in to optimize that signal, the society gets back $40 on average.”
Commissioner Marton acknowledged there are a lot of problem intersections in Buffalo, but he has ambitious plans to install new technology to better time out signals along Main Street, Jefferson Avenue, Bailey Avenue, Seneca Street, Michigan Avenue and other thoroughfares.
“Would you tell people who drive through Buffalo that this is going to keep getting better?” Wooten asked Marton. “Well, that’s my goal, right, as commissioner, that it does keep getting better,” Marton answered.
Skipper said dramatic change is coming.
“I hope in the next 2, 3, 4, 5 years we’re talking again, and it’s not 22 cameras, it’s 200-some cameras online,” Skipper said.
NORTHTOWNS
7 News Reporter Michael Schwartz watched the Miovision technology succeed in Amherst and the Town of Tonawanda.
In the Town of Tonawanda, Miovision’s 360-degree camera hovers over the Brighton/Colvin intersection. Schwartz witnessed drivers waiting at red lights for a consistent 30 seconds.
“The system is remarkable,” emphasized Brian Kulpa, Amherst Town Supervisor. “We replaced decades-old loop detector technology with smart signals, and that’s what this project was about for Amherst.”
The Town of Amherst is the first community in Western New York to have fully transitioned to smart signals network-wide. 56 traffic signals in Amherst have been converted to Miovision. The first signal there was converted a few years ago at the intersection of Maple and Flint Road.
“We saw a reduction in travel time of up to 11%, and we determined due to the success of the project let's expand it town-wide,” explained Chris Schregel, Amherst Traffic Safety Coordinator.
That data in Amherst has led to the conclusion that Miovision has improved evening travel time on Maple Road by up to 30 seconds, from Alberta Drive to N. Maplemere Road.
Schregel and his team study the traffic data recorded by Miovision 24/7, from there they can make minor adjustments to the range of wait times at signals.
“What’s beautiful about this is you can always go back and make minor adjustments if timing plan needs adjustment,” said Schregel.
Miovision recognizes the specific number of vehicles at a light and then adjusts to get traffic moving. This eliminates the frustration of drivers who often wait in a long line of cars at a red light, as only a few cars pass by in the other direction. Since the data is collected 24/7 town engineers can review it more conveniently.
“In years past we used to have to wait for a traffic engineer to study this, and pay thousands of dollars,” said Schregel. “Now we have technology in place to do this on our own.”
Amherst reports that with shorter wait times at light, overall Miovision has saved drivers $128,000 in fuel, and has saved 217 tons of greenhouse gases coming from engines. That’s equivalent to what 47 cars produce in a year.
It has also benefitted pedestrians, including many University at Buffalo students who cross Maple Road to get to school.
"It does the job for me so it's a positive thing," said a UB grad student.
“We did notice pedestrians crossing where there weren’t crosswalks,” said Schregel. “After seeing data using Miovision, we made the decision it’s best to deploy PED heads for those pedestrians crossing that leg of the intersection, as well as a crosswalk. So those are the type of improvements we utilize the data for.”
SOUTHTOWNS
Drivers in the Southtowns tell 7 News Reporter Taylor Epps that long waits at red lights are a huge Western New York problem.
"I've driven up and down the east coast and no place else was that bad," said Matthew Karoglan, a nurse's aide.
Karoglan lives in West Seneca, but works in Amherst and long waits can ruin his commute.
"It can get pretty aggravating, when we travel to and from work every day, that wait time adds up," said Karoglan.
Just how much does it add up?
We actually spend 142 hours, 4.7 months, of our lives behind the wheel waiting at red lights. And it costs American drivers $8.6 billion each year.
Taylor Epps found a light in West Seneca at Seneca Street and Harlem Road with a wait that's longer than two minutes.
We asked the New York State Department of Transportation about this and a spokesperson said they occasionally get calls about signal timing and have crews that respond.
"The signal on Route 16 at the intersection of Seneca and Harlem is operating as intended, with wait times that are warranted based upon traffic flow and the geometry of the intersection," said a DOT Spokesperson.
Of the 830 traffic signals the DOT manages across Western New York, they've installed 70 Miovision camera systems, with more coming this year.
The daily red light wait annoyed Jocelyn Furer so much, that she dedicated a thread to it on her burner account on X.
"I created a thread, lights in Buffalo that should've been a stop sign. Obviously, we do need lights, but at least certain parts of the day they don't need to be going at all times," said Furer.
She was thrilled when she saw the post on our WKBW Instagram page.
"And I felt like I had been heard for the first time. I've been complaining about this to my friends, I feel like I've been screaming into the void," said Furer.
She's developed her own system to catch a red light, but you've probably seen those who don't take the risk and run the red light.
"You're sitting at these lights for three minutes, like it could make or break your commute, you don't know," said Furer.
TIRED OF ANY RED LIGHTS NEAR YOU?
We want to hear from you. Tell us what intersections need to be studied as we continue to look into solutions for these travel headaches.