I lowa ’ s Statewide Traffic SignalImprovement Program

T raffic signal equipment and signaltimin.g improvements have been popular a~plications of oil overcharge funds in many states. Some of the states known to have provided restitution to those overcharged by petroleum companies include California, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin.’ When signal timings, signal hardware, and signal systems are designed to work more efficiently, motorists save fuel, stops, delay, and travel time. Spending these funds on traffic signal equipment and signal timing improvements is a direct and equitable method of compensating motorists originally overcharged by oil companies. Each of the states that provided restitution chose a slightly different path for using oil overcharge funds to make signal improvements. In some programs, traffic signals were simply retimed to permit more efficient traffic operation. Other programs included the purchase of modern traffic signal equipment, and some focused on training professionals in individual communities to retime their own signals. Iowa’s program involved most elements of the other states’ programs and then went one step further. Activities were carried out to publicize the program to the general public and to public decision makers. Iowa’s public awareness campaign was also a unique and distinctive feature of the program. New traffic signal equipment and traffic signal-timing plans were implemented in 19 Iowa citiesz as part of the $3-million Iowa Motor Vehicle Fuel Reduction Program (IMVFRP). The cities were evenly distributed in size (small-, medium-, and large-population communities) and evenly distributed geographically across Iowa, The signal improvements ranged from multi-intersection signal systems to individual, isolated intersection signals. The application of varied technologies to cities evenly distributed with respect to population and location was another unique feature of the Iowa program. In addition to the signal equipment and signal-timing improvements, the Iowa program included the following three components: