We need traffic lights like this...
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,000
From: TX Med Ctr
We need traffic lights like this...
Traffic Lights Should Respond to Cars...
Would be nice. A lot of intersections around here could benefit from technology like this. But the traffic wizards here probably wouldn't find the budget for it. Instead we'll keep the poorly timed lights.
On a semi-related note, nearly all unprotected lefts have disappeared to be replaced by only protected lefts.
The four way stop intersection where a traffic circle would be more appropriate.
Seems like there are an abundance of little things we could do to improve observed fuel economy without even changing the cars.
Anyone who's sat at a red light for minutes on end in the middle of the night when there's no cross traffic can cheer on science for proving what we already knew: lights that adapt to the flow of traffic, instead of dictating the flow of traffic, can improve the flow of traffic. A team of researchers discovered that if you let lights locally decide how to time their signals based on how much traffic they're dealing with, and then communicate that with nearby lights, you get closer to the "green wave" of lights that keeps thing moving smoothly.
The issue with the centralized, top-down system of control is that it is geared to address an average traffic situation that rarely occurs as planned. The variations in rush hour traffic mean that lights are trying to apply one solution to a vast number of situations. In their trial in Dresden, Germany the team found that traffic congestion was eased by nine percent, pedestrian congestion by 36 percent, and bus and tram traffic by 56 percent. With rush hours spreading in time and distance, the proof and implementation of this can't come soon enough. Thanks for the tip, Toy!
The issue with the centralized, top-down system of control is that it is geared to address an average traffic situation that rarely occurs as planned. The variations in rush hour traffic mean that lights are trying to apply one solution to a vast number of situations. In their trial in Dresden, Germany the team found that traffic congestion was eased by nine percent, pedestrian congestion by 36 percent, and bus and tram traffic by 56 percent. With rush hours spreading in time and distance, the proof and implementation of this can't come soon enough. Thanks for the tip, Toy!
On a semi-related note, nearly all unprotected lefts have disappeared to be replaced by only protected lefts.
The four way stop intersection where a traffic circle would be more appropriate.
Seems like there are an abundance of little things we could do to improve observed fuel economy without even changing the cars.
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Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 101
From: Richmond, VA
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Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 915
From: Tucson, AZ
Roundabouts are great, but people don't know how to use them. Last year visiting Sedona they had replaced most of the lights with roundabouts since our last visit. A few idiots were lost and weren't sure what to do, but for the most part we kept moving right along and traffic flowed *way* better than it used to when there were lights.
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Joined: Aug 1998
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From: Mill Creek, WA
But if traffic lights can help us keep moving and as a result make the use of our cars and subsequent fuel more efficient the states will make less money of the taxes they impose on us at the pump that keep rising every year. It's in the states best interest to have us continue to sit in traffic on highways or at lights with nobody around so we can waste more gas and pay more taxes at the pump.
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Last time I was in Tuscon, there were almost no red arrows. Did they add them in the last year and a half?
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From: Tucson, AZ
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Joined: Dec 1999
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From: Annapolis Md. USA
The traffic light in front of my subdivision already changes for when you pull up and no ones around. The only exception is during peak rush hour times. It is awesome because at night or early in the morning, I can pull up to th elight, and it will change instantly if no traffic is around.
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Joined: Feb 2000
Posts: 825
From: Stamford, VT
I'd be satisfied just having competent individuals setting up our local lights. There's one in particular that gives a green light to the westbound traffic before eastbound, which is useless because there's never anybody on that side. Instead, the northbound traffic backs up all the way into another light because so many people turn left at the light. Why they didn't just make the north-bound green longer is completely beyond me.
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