The traffic signals along Factoria Boulevard in Bellevue, Washington, generally don’t flash the same length of green twice in a row, especially at rush hour. At 9:30 am, the full red/yellow/green signal cycle might be 140 seconds. By 9:33 am, a burst of additional traffic might push it to 145 seconds. Less traffic at 9:37 am could push it down to 135. Just like the traffic itself, the timing of the signals changes.
华盛顿贝尔维尤的Factoria Boulevard上的交通信号灯通常不会绿灯连续两次闪烁的时长相同，尤其是在交通高峰期。上午9点30，红/黄/绿信号周期可能为140秒。9点33分，堵车可能会把时间延长至145秒。9点37分车辆较少，可以缩短至135秒。就像交通本身一样，信号灯的时间也会变化。
That is by design. Bellevue, a fast-growing city just east of Seattle, uses a system that is gaining popularity around the US: intersection signals that can adjust in real time to traffic conditions. These lights, known as adaptive signals, have led to significant declines in both the trouble and cost of travels between work and home.
这是特意设计的。贝尔维尤，西雅图东面一个快速增长的城市，使用一套在美国越来越来越流行的系统：十字路口的信号灯可以根据交通状况实时调整。这些信号灯，称为“适应性信号灯”，大大减少了往返于工作和家庭之间的麻烦和成本。
“Adaptive signals can make sure that the traffic demand that is there is being addressed,” says Alex Stevanovic, a researcher at Florida Atlantic University.
佛罗里达大西洋大学研究员亚历克斯史提瓦诺维奇表示:“适应性信号灯可以确保满足现有的交通需求。”
Forall of Bellevue’s success, adaptive signals are not a cure-all for jammed road ways. Kevin Balke, a research engineer at the Texas A&M University Transportation Institute, says that while smart lights can be particularly beneficial for some cities, others are so jammed that only a sharp reduction in the number of cars on the road will make a meaningful difference. “It’s not going to fix everything, but adaptive signals have some benefits for smaller cities,” he says.
尽管贝尔维尤取得了成功，但自适应信号灯并不是解决拥堵道路的万能药。德克萨斯农工大学交通研究所的研究工程师凯文·巴尔克说，虽然智能信号灯对一些城市特别有益，但另一些城市的交通非常拥挤，只有大幅减少道路上的汽车数量才能产生有意义的变化。他说：“这不能解决所有问题，但自适应信号灯对小城市有一些好处。”
In Bellevue, the switch to adaptive signals has been a lesson in the value of welcoming new approaches. In the past, there was often an automatic reaction to increased traffic: just widen the roads, says Mark Poch, the Bellevue Transportation Department’s traffic engineering manager. Now he hopes that other cities will consider making their streets run smarter instead of just making them bigger.
在贝尔维尤，切换成自适应信号灯已经成了接受新方法的一个有价值的经验。贝尔维运输部交通工程经理马克·波奇说，在过去，人们对交通流量增加的自动反应通常是：拓宽道路。现在，他希望其他城市也能考虑让他们的街道更智能，而不仅仅是更宽。
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