3 comments on “Critical thinking on Progress Indicating Traffic Lights and a challenge to you

  1. “3min. and 18sec” … hardly believable. In EU, you rarely wait longer than 90 secs and it already seems endless. 3mins is just too much – it might be per day, yes.

    Otherwise a great design challenge. I have been observing the numeral displays which I ironically comment that they “tell you how much time you save if you cross the red light”.

    In Slovenia we had the green blinking when going to red. I suppose EU laws forced us to remove the additional signal.

    The pedestrian crossings coint-down signals help, but only if the numbers are less than 20 secs or so. I am prepared to wait certain time, but not more than so much.

    I had an idea that those numbers (or anything counting red light down) shouldn’t be linear or easily anticipated. But does keeping secret about the green light make sense? Well, maybe it makes the difference keeping the user distracted off the passing of time. But then again. So the real question is: do we want people to plan the lights or not?

    • Good point.

      I think the other thing to think about is where they are placed. If the surrounding lights are placed immediately around the red light, does that infer that they are for the cars?

      Would we really want a pedestrian to be looking up at the traffic light to see if they can cross? Thereby diverting their eyes from the opposite direction of oncoming traffic?

      Example. I am traveling across the street, do I need to look up to my far right and possibly around the “hood” of the light to see if I can cross when traffic will be approaching from my left?

  2. Hi,

    Don’t mean to be rude but you go in the wrong direction (lights design) to solve the problem (gasoline consumption at stop).

    the solution is not in the Lights design, it’s in the car design, that’s why nearly every new car has a start-stop system wich cut the engine when the car stops and restart it when needed.

    The lights design is still interresting but it is about another problem : circulation and traffic jams etc.

    I was myself thinking the other day in a car lane when the light went green i noticed everydriver in the lane starts to move its car only when the preceeding one started to move. It then cause a “domino” or “string” effect. I think all drivers should/could start their car when the light goes green so the whole line of cars will move at the same time.

    I don’t know if I’m explaining it right English not my mother language sorry

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