DCC - lights deliberately not synched

uberwolf

This may have been brought up here already, but according to a guest on newstalk this evening DCC let it slip a week ago that traffic lights in the city were intentionally unsychronised to prevent speeding.

I'd like to offer a source for this info other than me hearing it on the radio 2nd hand. despite that it has been the source of incredulous discussion that they haven't managed to sychronise - and now they admit it's intentional!?!

MrPudding

That seems right. It could not possibly be a sh1t as it is by accident.

MrP

murphaph

In Germany sometimes you see signs on a stretch of road with regular lights advising you what speed to maintain to get all the greens.

Alun

murphaph wrote:

In Germany sometimes you see signs on a stretch of road with regular lights advising you what speed to maintain to get all the greens.

It's called the "Grüne Welle" or Green Wave. They also have them in Holland, it's a great idea.

Hagar

Work's here in France too.
I have driven clean through the whole town of Hyeres at approx 35kph without having to stop once on a couple of occasions during the day.

Traffic

I think we need to know who the DCC spokesperson was?

Capt'n Midnight

uberwolf wrote:

This may have been brought up here already, but according to a guest on newstalk this evening DCC let it slip a week ago that traffic lights in the city were intentionally unsychronised to prevent speeding.

In the past it was said to be to break up the traffic. There are a few stretchs of road where if you travel at the speed limit you get hit by reds but if you travel at about 7mph over the limit , which most irish drivers seem comfortable with , you get a string of greens. So I believe ther the lights are unsynced. I also believe that there is no advantage in travelling just below the speed limit as I haven't noticed going through a series of lights, instead it seems that speeding up might be more advantageous.

DubTony

The guy on Newstalk was the Irish Independents motoring correspondent. He explained that someone in the council had let it slip - accidentally.

vector

Hagar wrote:

Work's here in France too.
I have driven clean through the whole town of Hyeres at approx 35kph without having to stop once on a couple of occasions during the day.

<rant>
and by doing so you have saved fuel
but the govt have no interest in you saving fuel because they get a cut of all that you buy in tax
(yes tax is charged abroad too)
</rant>

Slice

Well if having synchronised traffic lights gives rise to dangerous driving it would make sense not to have them synchronised at all, especially in city centre areas. it might be argued that this is at odds with those who do respect speed limits but at the same time the number of deaths on the roads is indication enough that unfortunately not enough people do.

aphex™

Why would anybody need to speed if all the lights were green? If you went too fast you'd probably start hitting reds.

Hagar

Slice wrote:

it might be argued that this is at odds with those who do respect speed limits but at the same time the number of deaths on the roads is indication enough that unfortunately not enough people do.

Sweeping generalizations follow....

Traffic lights in general are only to be found in our larger cities and towns where traffic is heavy / slow moving enough to justify their use. Most motorists' deaths occur on open fast stretches of roads where fatal speeds can be achived. In the cities and towns cars are generally involved in non fatal fender-benders. It should also be noted that a lot of fatal accidents occur in the middle of the night when pubs and clubs have emptied the patrons from the bars into the car parks. How many road deaths are attributable / involve the elderly? 2 this weekend at least ( 84yo and 72yo ). Keep in mind anyone over about 60 never did a driving test, they just bought a licence.

For the purposes of my point I'm ignoring the lemming like behaviour of many pedestrians and cyclists who don't obey any ROTR never mind traffic lights.

bemusedobserver

Capt'n Midnight wrote:

In the past it was said to be to break up the traffic. There are a few stretchs of road where if you travel at the speed limit you get hit by reds but if you travel at about 7mph over the limit , which most irish drivers seem comfortable with , you get a string of greens. So I believe ther the lights are unsynced. I also believe that there is no advantage in travelling just below the speed limit as I haven't noticed going through a series of lights, instead it seems that speeding up might be more advantageous.

That coincides exactly with my experience of the N11. I arrive at the Loughlinstown roundabout every morning at about 6.30. If you continue at 70mph all the way into Dublin you can sometimes get to Donnybrook without hitting a red. A lot of people know this already obviously as there is a lot of weaving in and out of lanes (including the bus lane) avoiding cars that are going at or below the speed limit.

Does anyone know if synchronisation was ever tested by DCC? I would be happy to go at 50mph if I knew that there would be a clear path ahead.

MrPudding

A friend of mine was telling me about an experimental system she saw in germany. It was on a road similar to the N11. Halfway between each set of lights there was a digital sign. It displayed the speed you needed to travel at to hit the next light green. The required speed changed according to the sequence in the lights ahead, speeding traffic up or slowing it down as required. Sound pretty cool and not too difficult.

MrP

Our man in Havana

MrPudding wrote:

A friend of mine was telling me about an experimental system she saw in germany. It was on a road similar to the N11. Halfway between each set of lights there was a digital sign. It displayed the speed you needed to travel at to hit the next light green. The required speed changed according to the sequence in the lights ahead, speeding traffic up or slowing it down as required. Sound pretty cool and not too difficult.

MrP

Perfect plan, But this is Ireland :mad:

Alun

MrPudding wrote:

A friend of mine was telling me about an experimental system she saw in germany. It was on a road similar to the N11. Halfway between each set of lights there was a digital sign. It displayed the speed you needed to travel at to hit the next light green. The required speed changed according to the sequence in the lights ahead, speeding traffic up or slowing it down as required. Sound pretty cool and not too difficult.

Not experimental at all ... it's called a "Green Wave" system and they've had these for years in Germany (Grune Welle) and Holland (Groene Golf) and probably in other countries as well.

MrPudding

Alun wrote:

Not experimental at all ... it's called a "Green Wave" system and they've had these for years in Germany (Grune Welle) and Holland (Groene Golf) and probably in other countries as well.

The technology does not appear to be complex. Why can we not have it?

MrP

LFCFan

MrPudding wrote:

The technology does not appear to be complex. Why can we not have it?

MrP

Like Bond said, this is Ireland. Joined up thinking is not part of the makeup of our Government. They spent years getting the Penalty Points system going and still couldn't have it computerised from the start. We put Traffic controlled roundabouts at the exits from Motorways. We build 2 Luas lines and don't join them. I think you'll see a pattern emerging.