AMHERST, N.Y .(WBEN) - We're learning more about the technology that may soon be a mainstay on local roadways.
Traffic signals, normally triggered using a sensor in the ground to change the light, are evolving to monitor the roadways using mounted, 360-degree, cameras that will more accurately monitor the flow of traffic. Early testing of the artificial intelligence is underway in Amherst at the intersection of Maple Road and Flint Road. Tonawanda is using the technology on Brighton Road. The local towns are using the technology from Miovision, a Canadian-based company that created the "smart traffic signals".
Miovision said their technology reduced the travel time for some municipalities by as much as 33 percent.
Commuters won't physically notice a change in the traffic lights other than the camera mounted on top of it. If a light goes out, Florio said traffic planners are immediately alerted by the technology instead of waiting for a phone call from a traveler.
Hundreds of intersections in Detroit currently utilize Miovision's technology.
The company said there are no plans to use their technology as a way to monitor people who speed on the roads and that their focus is on gathering data for the towns they work with.
"The enforcement side of it is a different kind of camera and a different kind of technology," Florio said. "There is sometimes a concern when we go in that there might be speed cameras and red-light cameras. That's not what our technology does. There are other technologies that cities can get, not from us, to do those kind of things."
Amherst Town Supervisor Brian Kulpa told WBEN this week that the cameras can be accessed by police if there is an accident at an intersection.
Florio also said the cameras will be so high up and the resolution will not be good enough to recognize individual faces or license plates.
While Florio said the company continues to improve their technology to better recognize pedestrians and cars, they also hope their future cameras will be better able to recognize bicyclists.
"As cities are getting more crowded, they're moving to think about traffic as not just cars and trucks, but bicyclists, e-scooters, and pedestrians," Floria said. "Some of those things can move through the city much more easily. They're smaller and more compact...We really think our technology can really help traffic planners as they start thinking about traffic as more than just cars and trucks."