Traffic signals on Mississauga's streets are operated by the city's Transportation and Works department and are owned by either the city, the region or the province.
Philosophy
Mississauga tends to use semi-actuated signals, that is, ones that detect traffic on only some of their approaches, as a sort of balance between effectively responding to changes in traffic and keeping capital and maintenance costs low.
Timing differs by time of day. Cycles tend to be longer in the peak periods and shorter when there is less traffic. During the daytime, signals along major roads have coordinated cycles, while at night, most cycle as fast as the design of the intersection allows.
Trivia
Mississauga-designed traffic signals show a few quirks that set them apart from those in neigbouring cities.
- Left-turn indications are always shown on at least two signal heads, even if not required by law
- Signal heads where circular green and yellow are the same size as red and arrow indications are only used to improve visibility in groups of closely-spaced intersections
- Straight-ahead arrows are used very sparingly, with turn restrictions posted mainly on separate signs
