How does signal preemption differ from signal priority?

Signal preemption is a traffic management strategy that specifically grants priority to emergency vehicles such as police cars, fire trucks, or ambulances, allowing them to bypass standard traffic signal operations. This mechanism ensures that these vehicles can reach their destinations without delay during critical situations, thereby enhancing public safety and response times.

In contrast, signal priority generally applies to transit vehicles, like buses, which may receive adjustments to traffic signal timings to ease their passage through intersections but does not fundamentally alter signal operations in the same way preemption does. Therefore, preemption is distinctly utilized in urgent emergency situations, setting it apart from the broader application of priority techniques, which can be integrated into regular traffic operations for various vehicle types.

This clear distinction is why the characterization of signal preemption as being used solely for emergency situations is accurate.