Traffic Management Authority

Another thing I've noticed is the proliferation of men and women standing in Chicago intersections wearing bright green vests labeled "Traffic Management Authority." The uninitiated would assume that these people help direct the flow of traffic, so as to ease the clogging of key intersections and arterial roadways during peak travel times. Not so. Careful observation shows that these people are paid to stand there and agree with the traffic signals. This happens even when, for example, there is a long queue of cars waiting at a red light with absolutely no cross-traffic using the green. Someone please explain how an overweight person in a neon vest waggling a little yellow stick at me to proceed through my green light as I normally would helps manage anything.