Taxi GPS 'can change traffic lights'

Stark

They will be changing the magnetic field around the lights over the next few weeks and that will address the problem.

Uhmmm.... Methinks this was something they made up in order to save face for him.

fishy fishy

seamus wrote: »

Surely if taxi drivers were able to change the lights with their GPS boxes, they would turn them green, and not red? :rolleyes:

What a fncking numpty. Complete waste of council time and money.

that would depend on if he wanted to add money to the fare by stopping at every red light while leaving the car running, therefore all adding the fare up

who the numpty now??

sf80

28064212 wrote: »

So when he said "I noticed that when I used the GPS computer to check my position, the lights changed", he was actually talking bollocks?

Sounds like someone just confused on board computer with GPS. Electronics in the lights improperly shielded from interference by other electronics. The taxi computers might communicate back to base over GSM or CB or something.

opinion guy

Stark wrote: »

They will be changing the magnetic field around the lights over the next few weeks and that will address the problem.

Uhmmm.... Methinks this was something they made up in order to save face for him.

Lol.....there will be some bloke with a hazmat suit on and a toy instrument walking around Galway going up to traffic lights and making sci fi sound effects with his mouth and saying stuff like 'oh yes the magentic field is ****fing alignment now.....just a few more minutes....'

dilallio

28064212 wrote: »

So when he said "I noticed that when I used the GPS computer to check my position, the lights changed", he was actually talking bollocks?

Not really.

The system used by the major taxi companies in Galway, maps Galway into various zones. It uses an onboard GPS system to determing where the taxi currently is, but it uses an onboard radio system to relay this information back to base.

The driver can push a couple of buttons which tells them how many taxi's are in a particular zone, so they can go to a zone with less taxis. This increases their chance of a pickup.

It looks like it's this radio system, and not the GPS receiver itself, which is interfering with the pedestrian lights.

Because this radio system is integrated with the onboard GPS system, Frank Fahy was calling it a 'GPS System'.

Earlier posters are completely correct insofar as it is highly unlikely for a GPS system to interfere with traffic or pedestrian lights. A radio system though which transmits information could interfere with lights, depending on certain circumstances.

I don't believe that Galway City Council are now admitting that it's happening, just to cover up for one of their councillors, and neither do I believe that Frank Fahy made this up either out of stupidity or naivety.

token101

opinion guy wrote: »

Lol.....there will be some bloke with a hazmat suit on and a toy instrument walking around Galway going up to traffic lights and making sci fi sound effects with his mouth and saying stuff like 'oh yes the magentic field is ****fing alignment now.....just a few more minutes....'

That'll will cost them few grand to fix. Plus VAT. Plus consultant fees. So that comes to €30 million.

Ellis Dee

Trams in numerous European cities are fitted with devices that enable them to speed up the rate at which traffic lights change to suit them. However, I doubt if there are many taxi drivers anywhere - even in Dublin - rash enough to use such equipment even if they could get hold of it. It would be highly illegal and the insurance-related implications are horrendous.:):):)

rubadub

No need for new gadgets, most taxis come equipped with those magical hazard lights that allow them to do anything they want.