If you live in Kentfield or Greenbrae, go ahead and hit snooze one more time, because your commute may have just gotten shorter.
New vehicle-detecting cameras were installed in September to increase traffic efficiency along Sir Francis Drake Boulevard.

Thirteen traffic signals between Larkspur Landing circle and Elm Avenue in Kentfield were coordinated using the new technology to sync up green lights and shorten time spent idling at intersections, according Bob Goralka, the Traffic and transportation planning division manager for Marin County Public Works.

The cameras accurately detect cars, bicycles, and other vehicles as they approach traffic lights.

“The way the cameras are coded, they see the car going into the area, and they see how many cars are in the lane,” Goralka said. “Previously the traffic signal’s detection for cars at the signals was done by magnetic loops in the pavement, but new tech allows us to use video detecting.”

According to Goralka, these cameras will not be used for any kind of law enforcement or ticketing for traffic violations, and their main functions will be lowering fuel consumption and travel times.

A study conducted by Metropolitan Transportation Commission projects that 79,678 gallons of fuel will be saved each year because of the new cameras.

Goralka said that the decrease in travel time and fuel consumption will be caused by less stopping and starting at traffic signals, as well as less time spent idling at red lights.

“You would see more green lights than previously, because it reduces the delay,” he said.

According to the study, average fuel consumption is projected to decrease by 9 percent along this stretch of road, and average travel time is projected to decrease by 11 percent.

“Although the initial costs of the signal coordination project were small, the benefits add up over time,” said President of the Marin County Board of Supervisors Steve Kinsey in a June press release. “We look forward to substantially reduced fuel consumption, emissions and travel times.”

The project was paid for by a $42,000 grant from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission to Marin County.

“Money was provided to purchase the equipment and to hire a traffic consultant for the design of the system,” Goralka said.