Verrilli wants to know why he hit more red lights in South Philly.
"It just seems that, driving in South Philly on Broad Street, the lights have no rhyme or reason," he complained.
THE EXPLANATION: Philadelphia has about 2,900 intersections with traffic lights, but only 900 of those are equipped with a computer system that allows the Streets Department to synchronize them with one another, according to Steve Buckley, deputy commissioner of the department.
The rest of the city's traffic lights run off mechanical clocks. When they fall out of sync, they have to be reset manually.
Buckley said some of the problems Verrilli and others complain about will be mitigated as the city installs more of the newer kind of traffic lights at intersections along selected commercial corridors throughout the city.
Spruce and Pine streets in Center City already have the new traffic lights, and over the next year, the Streets Department will be installing them along "mid-level arterial" roads, including Bustleton, Belmont and Oregon avenues.
The city also wants to install new software in the electronic traffic lights so that it can change traffic patterns throughout the day - giving preference, for instance, to drivers going to Center City in the morning and then coming back from Center City during the evening rush hour.
Police in South Philly now have to manually control traffic signals so that cars can clear out of the stadium complex after a big sporting event or concert.
Philadelphia will eventually control the lights in real time from a new traffic-operations center that the city is planning at the Municipal Services Building. Buckley hopes Philly's traffic center will be open in about two years. It could cost up to $2 million, but the city hopes to keep the price tag low by using existing infrastructure.
