Officials say the new traffic lights used to control cars moving onto the highway in South Florida are already a success.
"I think its good that the lights are doing some good. Anything that help with the traffic here is a benefit," said Edie Murphy. Her mornings begin at the on ramp to I-95 near Miami Shores. As she heads to her job at Wells Fargo Bank, Downtown Miami, she approaches the lights now installed to control entering the highway.
Just as the volume of traffic is about take a big jump due to school starting, your drive to school or work may be a little easier.
"This is a way of us reducing the time it takes for commuters to get to work or school and its a way of using technology to benefit the driver," said Javier Rodriguez, who manages the I-95 updates for the Florida DOT.
Southbound DOT says the lights are increasing your speed by 11 percent, up from 47 to 52 miles per hour, and the commute time is reduced by a little under two minutes.
From downtown heading home, you're moving 16 percent faster -- the speed up from 38 to 44 mph -- and the commute time reduced by a minute and a half.
From the DOT headquarters, they keep a close eye on the lights and control when they are turned on and off.
DOT said that overall, the time reduced with the express lanes and the lights is down 8 to 12 minutes from the Golden Glades to downtown. Something that should help when school starts next week.
Local
Video from DOT cameras show what the entrance ramps and I-95 looked like before and what they look like now. The Southbound lights begin at Ives Dairy Rd. and run down through the Glades to Northeast 62nd St., 22 lights in all.
The total volume of traffic has remained the same since the lights were installed.
