Smart traffic light controls.

[Diesel_Dave]

Originally Posted by TheEnemy

So your saying it punishes you for using safe following distances?

Pretty much! I hate that stupid thing. It's like a 4 year old with ADD/ADHD--every little thing diverts it's attention.

[user removed]

Going through 44 traffic lights in 20 miles, almost on a daily basis.
Set the timing to allow traffic to never stop on the heavily travelled main routes, which here are all basically east to west. The roads that access the main routes have no need for timing. They could be blocked from activating when the block of traffic is approaching on the main route. I can't count the number of times I have seen one car stop 50.
Post the timed speeds alone the road. This road has lights timed for 45 MPH. The road I travel most is timed for 47-50 MPH although the speed limit is 45, can you say STUPID.
Every time the add a light, it is never timed properly with the rest of the lights and that cost everyone MPG.
They could just take down half the lights and make the intersection right turn only. Traffic would have to go the wrong direction and make a U turn, but from my observations that is maybe 5% of the total traffic flow.
I ticks me off to no end to spend the energy to get to 45 MPH and have a single car trip a light (in many cases a light that should not exist) and watch the 30 cars coming to that light.
The heavy flow of traffic on the main routes is already bunched together by the existing light timing which provides arterial roads with plenty of opportunities to enter the main road.
Once I drove from my home to my cousins home 37 miles away and actually never was stopped by a light out of at least 50. That was one time in a hundred identical trips.

regards
Mech

[Ladogaboy]

Originally Posted by Old Mechanic

Once I drove from my home to my cousins home 37 miles away and actually never was stopped by a light out of at least 50. That was one time in a hundred identical trips.

Heh... what about the one trip where you hit ALL 50 red lights?

[user removed]

Never happens.
Typically I can hit 6 or less out of 44, but I do have an ungodly amount of experience with traffic lights (driving here since 1966). most of those are left turns on a divided 4-6 lane highway.
I know from traffic flow when it will be green almost 5. mile away. Some are green for less than 10 seconds in a 1 minute 30 second complete cycle.
regards
Mech

[BHarvey]

I have 5 stop signs and 7 lights to deal with at 0430 for a 5.3 mile 'to work' commute.
One of the lights is consistent and all the others are so jacked up there is no use trying to time them. They stay red/green for various lengths of time even when no one is there to trip the other side.

I can count on one finger how many times I have gotten all greens!
There is NO other route to go that uses less fuel either and I start each day so pissed, except when I ride the bike to work.

[redpoint5]

I've thought about using cameras to up the intelligence of traffic management, but they could even use the ground loop detectors more effectively. Instead of deploying those rubber hose traffic counters to audit traffic once a year, the loops could detect traffic continuously and readjust timing based on this info.

I read somewhere that the loops are actually sensitive enough that each car gives a unique signature that could potentially be used to track a specific car from sensor to sensor.

Really, I'd just be happy if they would time lights in succession in the area I live. They do this only for the most closely spaced lights that are located downtown.

[Kristen]

We've had traffic lights with radar detectors on them here for years. Time was when I approached some traffic lights at road works there was a 50:50 chance of hitting them at green. Now it seems as though 90% of the time they are Red ... progress! I expect that the workmen setting up the lights have no clue, or can't be bothered, to set the Radar detector bits correctly - or they are just plain useless. Concept seems fine to me though - hold Red at both ends and offer Green to the first end that has traffic approaching.

We also have a roundabout near here with traffic lights on it (never understood the point of that ...). The lights still run at 1am even when traffic is negligible, and a right-turn will mean 2 sets of red lights; gross waste of fuel, and time. On the continent (now sure which countries, but "more than one") they have flashing Red / Amber lights for Must-Stop & Give-Way-with-caution on our-of-hours traffic lights. I'd like that in the UK too please.

[Diesel_Dave]

Originally Posted by Kristen

We've had traffic lights with radar detectors on them here for years. Time was when I approached some traffic lights at road works there was a 50:50 chance of hitting them at green. Now it seems as though 90% of the time they are Red ... progress! I expect that the workmen setting up the lights have no clue, or can't be bothered, to set the Radar detector bits correctly - or they are just plain useless.

Therein lies the problem with "smart" traffic lights. The "smarter" they are, that often means more to go wrong if they're not set up correctly (which is often the case).

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

I read somewhere that the loops are actually sensitive enough that each car gives a unique signature that could potentially be used to track a specific car from sensor to sensor.

They can "see" differences between different types of cars, but not individual cars of the same type.

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by Kristen

We also have a roundabout near here with traffic lights on it (never understood the point of that ...).

Roundabouts can't cope with high traffic flows from multiple directions.
With enough traffic, the direction that gets onto a roundabout first, can block access from other direction(s).

I've seen it happen on some ill-advised roundabouts on the continent.

The lights still run at 1am even when traffic is negligible, and a right-turn will mean 2 sets of red lights; gross waste of fuel, and time.

That's of course ridiculous.
Ask the road authority to put the lights on flashing amber after the rush hours.