ORLANDO, Fla. — A group of transportation and community leaders are trying to make hitting those green lights a little bit easier for that commute.
Earlier this year, MetroPlan Orlando formed the Traffic Signal Working Group.
“Traffic signals and retiming traffic signals is one of those low cost strategies we can use to meet the changing demands of travel,” said Eric Hill, MetroPlan Orlando director of transportation systems management and operations.
For years, MetroPlan Orlando has provided resources to local cities and counties to hire consultants, collect data and propose timing plans to improve the flow of vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians.
The Traffic Signal Working Group will help identify new methods and technology that could improve signal retiming.
“We want to optimize the use of the signals, but also optimize the use of the intersections,” said Hill. “So what we’re trying to do is get a system that’s efficient, but that we can also look at ways to optimize the use of traffic signals for controlling traffic.”
MetroPlan’s most recent study from 2024, based on a $1 million re-timing project that included 20 corridors, found that 85% of those corridors now have drivers stopping fewer times, and 50% of those corridors now have shorter travel times.
“There’s even blocking of the intersection because the light timing is off,” said Alan Johnsrud, who gets caught at red lights often near his home off Narcoossee Road.
Narcoossee Road in Orange County was retimed two years ago, according MetroPlan, cutting 15 seconds for the evening commute, and 5 seconds off the morning rush.
“The biggest misconception is that we are timing the lights for you,” said Hill. “And we’re just not timing it for an individual. We’re timing it for a host of individuals, travelers in (of all kinds of) modes.”
Traffic signals can get out-of-sync as new development and more traffic arrives to our area.
One of the goals of MetroPlan Orlando is to identify the roads or corridors that would get the biggest benefit from re-timing.