If you’ve ever missed a traffic light by mere seconds only to be held hostage for a seeming eternity, you’ll certainly appreciate the intuitive new signaling system currently being implemented throughout Bellevue. Traffic signals may not come across as the most scintillating of topics, but they can absolutely make a difference in the amount of time each day you spend waiting, having a huge affect on your quality of life.
The Sydney Coordinated Adaptive Traffic System, or SCATS as it’s more commonly known, continually obtains traffic data from all lanes in order to determine traffic light cycle length, eliminating inefficient cycle time and providing extra time when needed. You’ll see it in full effect in downtown Bellevue at the intersection of NE 8th Street and Bellevue Way, as well as NE 8th Street and 112th Avenue NE and myriad intersections further east.
Bellevue has the distinction of being the first city in Washington to implement the system, and to impressive results: where it has been deployed locally, SCATS has shown to reduce delays by an average of 10% throughout the day, and as much as 20% during rush hour. Or, to put that in more concrete terms, it produces an average 70 second reduction in individual wait times, or saves 6,400 aggregate hours for drivers over the course of a year.
But perhaps you don’t drive? The system dazzles with benefits for pedestrians, as well. SCATS has the capability of producing a walk sign midway through the cycle at the press of a button. Since implementation at NE 8th Street and Bellevue Way, there has a 8% increase in pedestrian opportunities, and this function will be extended to more intersections in the future.
SCATS can also respond to accidents and disruptions in real-time (something that was nearly impossible to do with CompuTran – the former signaling system) and comes complete with the flashing yellow arrow function, which enables it to change left turn rules based on traffic conditions.
SCATS is currently in effect at 28% of the intersections in Bellevue, and partially in effect at 51%. Implementation will continue in phased rollouts until 2015, or until a new technology comes along that knocks us off our feet again. Such is the cycle.
