"By timing the signals on Third Avenue in Manhattan for vehicles traveling 15 miles per hour, DOT managed to reduce the number of cyclists hitting red lights and cut the number of cyclist-pedestrian conflicts in the process, according to a new report."
"Pedestrian-cyclist crashes on Third Avenue dropped four in 2024 to zero in 2025, while the percentage of "bike lane users who did not slow on when approaching a red light" dropped from 8 percent to 4.5 percent, DOT said."
"DOT began experimenting with the concept in 2019 - and now has a mound of evidence it works. Daytime driver speeds, meanwhile, did not change - and dropped during night hours when crashes are more likely."
"At the time, the two advocates, Christine Berthet and Joe Realmuto, pushed back on a DOT report that proposed to reduce driver-cyclist conflicts by giving them each separate green light phases. Berthet and Realmuto posited that timing traffic signals for the optimal number of successive green lights for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers would result in higher signal compliance on one-way streets with protected bike lanes."
Traffic signals timed to cyclists’ actual speed can improve compliance and safety. On Third Avenue in Manhattan, signals set for vehicles traveling 15 miles per hour reduced cyclists hitting red lights and lowered cyclist-pedestrian conflicts. Pedestrian-cyclist crashes fell from four in 2024 to zero in 2025. The share of bike lane users who did not slow when approaching a red light dropped from 8 percent to 4.5 percent. Similar results occurred on Hoyt Street and Bond Street after “Green Wave” timing was implemented in 2020. The Department of Transportation plans to expand “Green Wave” to First, Second, and Eighth avenues and compile additional potential locations. Daytime driver speeds did not change, while night speeds dropped when crashes are more likely.
Read at Streetsblog New York City
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