The Transportation Association of Canada (TAC) has released a new report, Flashing Amber Arrow Signal: Synthesis of Practice, examining U.S. experience with Flashing Amber Arrow (FAA) or Flashing Yellow Arrow (FYA) signal displays and their potential applicability in Canada.
FAA signals are widely implemented across the United States as a permissive turn indication in exclusive turn lanes to mitigate driver confusion associated with the green ball indication, reduce “yellow trap” incidents, improve intersection operational efficiency, and enhance turning safety among conflicting road users. While FAA indications are common in the U.S., they are not yet present in Canada.
The report synthesizes findings from a comprehensive literature review of U.S. research and practice, interviews with U.S. experts, a national survey of Canadian jurisdictions, and Canadian focus group sessions. Together, these inputs identify key challenges, opportunities, benefits, and risks associated with potential FAA application in Canada and inform recommended next steps.
Findings indicate an overall positive U.S. experience in terms of operational performance, safety outcomes, and user comprehension, including reduced collision rates when converting permissive or protected-permissive turn phasing to FAA signal heads without changes to phasing, improved pedestrian yielding behaviour, and operational flexibility such as time-of-day phasing and lagging left-turn capability while mitigating the “yellow trap” issue.
Canadian jurisdictions expressed interest in FAA as a targeted tool where warranted, while also highlighting contextual differences, including Canada’s pre-existing use of flashing green arrows and interest in shared-lane applications not implemented in the U.S.
The study recommends formalizing steady green arrows in the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Canada (MUTCDC) as a precursor to FAA introduction, followed by testing and piloting FAA signal head configurations in exclusive and shared lane contexts to address remaining safety and performance knowledge gaps.