Traffic lights (title too short)

[Cyclone]

One of our favourite topics of course on the forum...

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/road-and-rail-transport/12118903/Four-in-every-five-sets-of-traffic-lights-should-be-removed-report-claims.html

 

A two-minute delay to every car journey ends up costing the UK economy about £16 billion every year, the report claims.

 

I made this point (without a specific number) previously and Planner1 didn't like it.

 

Now we can see just how much money is wasted by just a short delay...

 

The report points to a number of examples where traffic lights have been removed in favour of “shared space” schemes, with beneficial impacts on the traffic.

It argues there is a “strong economic case for replacing standard traffic regulation with strategies that harness voluntary cooperation among road-users".

 

Or at the very least, turn most of them off at night or when traffic is light.

[Stoned]

SCC will only remove Traffic lights when Satan is skating to work.

[Berberis]

SCC hates the car, so the more they impede their use, the better in their opinion.

[milquetoast1]

What irks me, as both a pedestrian and driver/cyclist, was the changes in sequence made to many pedestrian crossings in Sheffield a few years ago.

 

The usual sequence of R1-R2-P-R1-R2-P was accepted by road users for decades, but for some reason the planners decided that some of the busier junctions should be changed to R1-P-R2-P-R1-P-R2-P.

 

This causes delays and tailbacks at a few junctions I can think of now.

[Cyclone]

I guess if the DVLA change the guidelines then SCC will be dragged, kicking and screaming, into the future, where traffic flows free and happy, and unicorns frolic in the grassy verges.

[Stoned]

I guess if the DVLA change the guidelines then SCC will be dragged, kicking and screaming, into the future, where traffic flows free and happy, and unicorns frolic in the grassy verges.

 

SCC would be well up for that. Imagine the money they would save on mowing the verges. They may even save enough to stick a few more traffic lights up and a couple of 24 hour bus lanes.

[hyper]

One of our favourite topics of course on the forum...

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/road-and-rail-transport/12118903/Four-in-every-five-sets-of-traffic-lights-should-be-removed-report-claims.html

 

 

 

I made this point (without a specific number) previously and Planner1 didn't like it.

 

Now we can see just how much money is wasted by just a short delay...

 

 

 

Or at the very least, turn most of them off at night or when traffic is light.

I'm not saying that there aren't adverse cost effects, but it is only the opinion of a think tank and not proven fact.

Maybe I missed it, but I can't find any single direct example of where those additional costs are in the article. It mentions environmental effects and safety, but no direct costs.

[Longcol]

One of our favourite topics of course on the forum...

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/road-and-rail-transport/12118903/Four-in-every-five-sets-of-traffic-lights-should-be-removed-report-claims.html

 

 

 

 

I do wonder if the author of the report passed their driving test.

 

“It makes road-users rely on third-hand instructions rather than first-hand judgement about how to adapt to the conditions and proceed safely,” the report claims.

 

“The most obvious example is the traffic light: in taking our eyes off the road, it flouts the fundamental principle of road safety: to watch the road.

[JFKvsNixon]

I do wonder if the author of the report passed their driving test.

 

“It makes road-users rely on third-hand instructions rather than first-hand judgement about how to adapt to the conditions and proceed safely,” the report claims.

 

“The most obvious example is the traffic light: in taking our eyes off the road, it flouts the fundamental principle of road safety: to watch the road.

 

I also like how the author points out that the speed limit is in fact a limit and not a target.

 

“Similarly, exceeding the designated speed limit may be perfectly safe in favourable conditions, whereas driving within the limit can be lethal in fog or on busy streets.”

[Cyclone]

SCC would be well up for that. Imagine the money they would save on mowing the verges. They may even save enough to stick a few more traffic lights up and a couple of 24 hour bus lanes.

 

Unicorn crossings. Light controlled, unicorn crossings. And they need to stop the traffic for a long time, as unicorns only cross slowly, due to all the frolicing.

 

---------- Post added 25-01-2016 at 16:00 ----------

 

I'm not saying that there aren't adverse cost effects, but it is only the opinion of a think tank and not proven fact.

Maybe I missed it, but I can't find any single direct example of where those additional costs are in the article. It mentions environmental effects and safety, but no direct costs.

 

I didn't read the report. Presumably they did something like work out the lost productivity of all those people not working for those 2 extra minutes...

 

You could I suppose say that the 2 minutes would be spent sitting on their backsides instead, but then how do you value leisure time?

 

---------- Post added 25-01-2016 at 16:02 ----------

 

I do wonder if the author of the report passed their driving test.

 

“It makes road-users rely on third-hand instructions rather than first-hand judgement about how to adapt to the conditions and proceed safely,” the report claims.

 

“The most obvious example is the traffic light: in taking our eyes off the road, it flouts the fundamental principle of road safety: to watch the road.

 

Yeah, I did briefly think about how I don't stare at traffic lights as I drive.

 

Give way intersections are arguably more 1st hand though. You actually have to watch for a gap in the traffic, rather than waiting to be told to proceed and the other flow being stopped.

Not appropriate in heavy flow conditions as minor roads would never have a chance to move. Often more efficient at off peak times though. I regularly sit at a red light on a minor road whilst precisely nothing drives past on the major road due to the traffic being light.