How did Chicago turn its yellow lights into cash?
Answer: by making them shorter
By reducing the length of the city’s yellow lights a fraction of a second to just under three seconds, the city generated more than 77,000 tickets and $8 million the last three months, the Chicago Tribune reported. The news is controversial, as the city’s intersection cameras are billed as a safety measure, but the reduction in yellow light times appears more a fundraising scheme, a case of the city gaming the system for financial gain, according to those interviewed for the article.
