Traffic jam solution ?

The state government is considering an innovation to free up congestion on arterial roads and virtually make traffic jams a thing of the past.   It certainly has short term merit and it might work to maintain an even traffic flow - bit what delivers a gain for some motorists will create a new problem for others.

This innovation works on the principle that what ails Sydney's arterial roads is too many cars trying to use too little road space at peak times.   It doesn't take Einstein to deduce that if you lower the number of cars the traffic will move faster.

The idea is to install traffic lights at all intersections that feed into these arterial roads - and regulate the number of cars that may enter to what the arterial road can manage.

The sticking point that will enrage many people - is just how this will be done.   It is envisaged that there will actually be two traffic lights at each point of entry, with just one car space separating the two.   Back at base, the road controllers will decide how many cars to add to the car stream and activate the front traffic light - to release one car at a time.

In that way, it can add cars to the stream at varying rates.   One every forty seconds - or perhaps just one a minute on a bad problem day - allowing the traffic stream to recover and flow at an even speed.

It certainly has the potential to make the arterial roads flow faster, but it will create a huge bottleneck of cars waiting their turn to use this main road system, and that can lead to road rage and drivers simply ignoring that red light that impedes progress.  

There is little point in achieving such a fast flow if it is at the expense of vast queues of frustrated drivers waiting interminably for their chance to join the stream - and it does nothing to solve the problem of Sydney having too many cars for too few roads - and that is not going to change.

The other limitation is - cost.   It will take a mint of money to install such a complex dual system of traffic lights and team them to a central control room to manage the road system.    Perhaps this would be better spent improving the rail system, and convincing commuters to leave the car at home and take the train.

But then - like the road system, rail is above capacity at peak times anyway.    Perhaps we need traffic lights to impede rail passenger entry at station gates, to regulate the flow to what the trains can hold ?

The possibilities seem endless !