https://qz.com/1317968/does-pressing-the-walk-button-really-help-you-cross-the-street-faster/

According to an American study, people spend around 1.6 billion hours each year standing idly at the roadside, at the cost of $2.6 billion to the American economy. With all this waiting around, it’s only natural to question whether pushing the “walk” button will help us get to our destination sooner.

To answer this question, we need to understand how the traffic lights work. Strict rules are applied within traffic control hardware to decrease the risk of collisions. For example, minimum times are set between one green light and the next, to ensure that vehicles can clear the junction safely.