Quote:
Originally Posted by pete c
It seems to me that this is a no brainer. It would save huge amounts of fuel, peoples time, brake pads and lives. Government mandates all sorts of silly **** that results in miniscule savings of fuel/emissions. Why doesn't it push this technology.
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To us subject to fuel prices and traffic interruptions, you are correct, this is a no-brainer. But to assume this is the goal of cities and traffic engineers is a mistake.
Sometimes stopping the flow of traffic is the goal, such as the new lights installed at a recently opened Mal-Wart near me. These lights are timed against the normal flow, and even have no proximity sensors so traffic is forced to stop even if no one is entering or leaving the store parking. Why? My guess is to simply make people aware of the store, and make it easy to stop/shop there.
There are numerous thoroughfares in Denver that seem to encourage speeding, as one must drive at least 15mph over the posted limit to ensure green lights. Not all are like this, Speer Blvd and Broadway both seem appropriately timed on the sections I regularly drive. But I like the idea of traffic monitoring and triggering lights in advance of traffic, it would save huge amounts of fuel given the typical oblivious drivers rushing up to red lights and slowing for lights about to turn.