[puddleglum]

Originally Posted by Old Mechanic

Light timing is practical and works nicely when it is done properly. Of course the best would be no lights or at least a lot fewer lights.

I drive through a 3 mile stretch with 12 lights, and you can time them either way, within an hour of the same time before 1:00 PM.

Think of timing as groups travelling in opposite directions. All they have to do to stay in timing is pass the same point in both directions at the same time. As long as they maintain the timed speed the groups will always be changing relative to each other, but they can pass each other without stopping, as long as the traffic on the road does not reach a saturation point where the percentage of green light "on time" is not sufficient for the volume of traffic flow.

regards
Mech

I agree that this will work in certain situations, but it is the exceptions that mess it up. The streets still have to be evenly spaced in a grid and all lights working the same way. If you have stupid city planners that place cross roads at random intervals and you throw in some left turn signals (As Aerohead said) and some heavy traffic into the into the mix, there is no way to time the lights both ways. Even on timed roads, if you have a lot of turns on your route, your hooped. I think more efficient cars that minimize the hit at stop lights is still the real answer.