Idea for government: Traffic Light Timers

[metroschultz]

It has been quite a while since i was in Germ. (the army paid my way back then) But at the time people were just starting to become aware of the need for ecofriendly habits ([U]All habits). i don't remember any drive through of any kind. Some Friends who have just come back from overseas said they still don't do drive throughs. Does anyone want to do the math and see how much fuel we could save just with that one change? i am not sure my brain could handle the strain.S.

[RH77]

Let's use the following constants: Fuel (U.S.) is $3.00/gal over the next year, drive-thru consumption is 1.0 gal/hour (going heavy on this one since you may have to accelerate slighty to move in the line), and the wait time is 4-minutes.

1.0/60 = 0.017 gal/minute x 4 minutes = 0.067 gal
Assuming that drive-thru's are used once a week (on average), that's an extra

3.47 gallons or $10.40 used per year

Here's where it gets interesting... Let say you hit the drive-thru 3x/week:

0.067 gal x 3 days x 52 weeks =

10.45 gal or $31.35 / year.

YMMV, but it starts to add up...

Every little bit helps... same with idling at long lights.

RH77

Originally Posted by metroschultz

It has been quite a while since i was in Germ. (the army paid my way back then) But at the time people were just starting to become aware of the need for ecofriendly habits ([U]All habits). i don't remember any drive through of any kind. Some Friends who have just come back from overseas said they still don't do drive throughs. Does anyone want to do the math and see how much fuel we could save just with that one change? i am not sure my brain could handle the strain.S.

[newtonsfirstlaw]

There's be no problem (technically) if there was a downward slope on the drive-through. That way you could just turn the car off, stick it in neutral, and use the hand brake to stop.

Seeing that this is more about social engineering than engineering, you'd need to ban drive-throughs if we are stuck with our 20 year or so supply of non-hybrid (mild or otherwise) used cars.

[metroschultz]

Holy cow. Now just consider the sheer number of vehicles on the road using a drive through [U]every day[U]. what a frigging high amount of fuel the entire North American continent could save. makes my brain hurt. Thanx for the math.S.

[trebuchet03]

Originally Posted by newtonsfirstlaw

There's be no problem (technically) if there was a downward slope on the drive-through. That way you could just turn the car off, stick it in neutral, and use the hand brake to stop.

Seeing that this is more about social engineering than engineering, you'd need to ban drive-throughs if we are stuck with our 20 year or so supply of non-hybrid (mild or otherwise) used cars.

Waaa! But I want my air conditioning... Waaa!

Berkeley has a ban on drive throughs IIRC... I believe that is one of the reasons why there's a ton of fast mom/pop restaurants that moved in. Especially right across from the Berkeley campus

[metroschultz]

Alright Treb. You pickin on grocery getters, who presumably won't leave their vehicles for twenty seconds due to the loss of A/C? OR You directly looking at me cause I live in the heat belt and desire to get to work relatively sweat free? Any ways, off topic.
on topic. I would rather see all drive through gone. The loss of fuel just sitting their idling by for a Big Mac just drives me insane.

[trebuchet03]

^^ No no Just giving a reason why people wouldn't turn their cars off - even if they could just coast down a ramp

I'm in S. Florida -- heat sucks... Having to use a/c sucks even more Alas, I do - just don't tell anyone (need to keep up appearances and such ).

I second the motion to remove drive throughs

[dremd]

we have "Prepare to stop when flashing" lights at many intersections in my area. A lot of people don't get them, but I think they are great. They are primarily at intersections where deaths often occur due to traffic light infractions.

[DifferentPointofView]

I love those. I start slowing down and my mom says "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?!? IT'S GREEN!!!! I said, stopping. it's gonna change in 3... 2... 1... red.

[Bajascoob]

I had a discussion with a traffic camera guy recently. The modern intersections use video cameras to detect vehicle presence and amount of vehicles. They adjust timing accordingly to try to keep traffic flowing. This eliminates the need for sensors in the street. The sequence gets messed up when you have people racing light to light.