Agency official explains how Fargo times traffic signals and manages street lighting

An agency official described Fargo’s approach to timing traffic signals and managing street lighting, saying the city uses software to coordinate intersections so motorists traveling at the posted speed limit are more likely to encounter green lights. The overview came in response to a request for more detail about the city’s traffic and lighting systems.

The official said, "there's some pretty complicated software that exists that is really looking at the spacing between those various intersections, what the posted speed limit is, startup slowdown times, and we try to coordinate those signal systems as much as possible." That software aims to time corridors so that, ideally, "when you're traveling on a corridor during the speed limit, you're gonna hit greens." The official added that the system's timing is built around expected speeds.

The official cautioned that coordination is more difficult in older, established parts of the city where access spacing was not controlled, limiting the ability to optimize signal timing. In newer areas, by contrast, controlled access spacing "allows for that coordination," the official said. The official reiterated the practical implication for drivers: "you're more likely to hit greens if you're going the speed limit. If you're going over the speed limit, you're likely to come to a signal and stop and wait before it turns green."