In two U.S. cities, new technology is rewarding slower driving with a quicker commute

Officials in Albuquerque, New Mexico and Portland, Oregon are curbing high-speed crashes by rewarding law-abiding drivers with fewer red lights. Traffic signals in these cities default to red until a vehicle approaches, and when one does, speed sensors grant a much earlier green light to drivers traveling at or below the speed limit, Jeff McMurray writes for Next City.

Albuquerque officials credit the new strategy with a dramatic drop in crashes along the corridor they tested it on and Portland officials say the system has led to slower drivers. Next City reports: 

Peter Koonce, who manages signals and street lighting for [Portland], calls the new approach a “virtual speed bump” and said the early results are promising. At the first intersection tested, rest in red was able to lower the average speed from 39 mph (63 kph) to 30 mph (48 kph), which is the speed limit, he said.

David Hurwitz, a professor of transportation engineering at Oregon State University who leads the study of Portland’s new traffic light system, said it’s too early to draw conclusions and further research is needed to ensure the positives aren’t offset by more drivers running red lights.