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It's a neat thought, and everyone who's watched a light turn red ahead of them just as they cleared a green has thought it before, but there is a serious downsi
by heydenberk 12y ago
It's a neat thought, and everyone who's watched a light turn red ahead of them just as they cleared a green has thought it before, but there is a serious downside. Urban stoplights should be optimized for the safety of non-motorists (pedestrians and cyclists) above all else. Giving cars more uninterrupted travel leads to higher speeds and more collisions. I'm happy that where I live there's more attention paid to traffic calming and bicycle infrastructure than motorist travel-time optimization.
- grapevines 12y ago>Giving cars more uninterrupted travel leads to higher speeds and more collisions Not necessarily. In a well-timed system, cars that travel the posted speed limit are indirectly rewarded by not needing to stop. Going too fast or too slow would mean you would be out of sync with the timed system.
- wffurr 12y agoYou can time traffic lights to encourage calmer traffic, by having "green waves" paced for bicycles, e.g. ~15 mph. Drivers should eventually clue in and slow down between lights since it just makes them wait longer.