In Attempt To Break Gridlock, Los Angeles Becomes First City To Synchronize Every Streetlight - Polidicks

[quote]It’s amazing how frustrating it can be to drive in L.A. Superhighways are jam-packed, cars crawl along in the worst rush hour of your life even though it’s only 2 p.m., and yet no one rides the scary subway. Last summer, it took me two solid hours to travel 28 miles--and that was on the highway, following a route Google said should take maybe 35 minutes. L.A. officials are trying to do better, however, and they recently finished a decades-long project to synchronize all of its traffic lights. It took city planners 30 years to build up the system, at a cost of more than $400 million, but L.A.’s Automated Traffic Surveillance and Control system is unique in its size and scope. [/quote] [url]http://www.popsci.com/cars/article/2013-04/los-angeles-synchs-every-streetlight-attempt-break-gridlock[/url]

That's really impressive. Must be a nightmare to do

[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;40139924][url]http://www.popsci.com/cars/article/2013-04/los-angeles-synchs-every-streetlight-attempt-break-gridlock[/url][/QUOTE] Finally The less time these guys are stuck in traffic lights, the less fuel they're burning and the less they're fuckin with the environment I mean it's all desert out that ways as far as I'm aware anyway But hopefully they can sell this to other cities and make a big difference

[QUOTE=Maloof?;40140000]Finally The less time these guys are stuck in traffic lights, the less fuel they're burning and the less they're fuckin with the environment I mean it's all desert out that ways as far as I'm aware anyway But hopefully they can sell this to other cities and make a big difference[/QUOTE] It's not desert. There are forests and marshes here and and nearest desert I can think of is a fair bit away.

Eh, all the technology in the world can't fix millions of cars driven by millions of people who can't drive properly.

[QUOTE=Used Car Salesman;40140214]Eh, all the technology in the world can't fix millions of cars driven by millions of people who can't drive properly.[/QUOTE] Yes it can. Nuke India. Less mopeds burning petrol. [highlight](User was banned for this post ("Shitposting / trolling" - MaxOfS2D))[/highlight]

[QUOTE=Maloof?;40140000]Finally The less time these guys are stuck in traffic lights, the less fuel they're burning and the less they're fuckin with the environment Fucking ignorant post here. I mean it's all desert out that ways as far as I'm aware anyway But hopefully they can sell this to other cities and make a big difference[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=don868;40140234]Yes it can. Nuke India. Less mopeds burning petrol.[/QUOTE] A whole family riding on one scooter is more environmentally friendly than a single guy driving a car.

"On, off, on, off, on, off" Hehehe, i can just imagine a disgruntled city worker playing a cruel massive game of red light green light flashing the lights on and off.

[QUOTE=don868;40140234]Yes it can. Nuke India. Less mopeds burning petrol.[/QUOTE] Shoot this guy. Fewer idiots to make jokes in poor taste.

Driving through LA just nuts me up so bad, just the little shit other drivers do pisses me off more than normal

[quote=PopSci]Magnetic sensors in the road at every intersection send real-time updates about the traffic flow through fiber-optic cables to a bunker beneath downtown Los Angeles, where Edward Yu runs the network. The computer system, which runs software the city itself developed, analyzes the data and automatically makes second-by-second adjustments, adapting to changing conditions and using a trove of past data to predict where traffic could snarl, all without human involvement.[/quote] [quote=PopSci]It automatically adjusts to account for issues at individual intersections, and it changes light timing to accommodate buses if they’re running behind. Without the system, it takes 20 minutes on average to drive 5 miles in L.A. With the system, that drops to 17.2 minutes, according to the NYT.[/quote] Pretty impressive, ideally this sort of optimization could be spread/applied to all sorts of other systems, not just traffic (albeit the cost of the system would need to be justified by how much cost will be saved in the long run, be it time/money/fuel/etc).

[QUOTE=G-Guy;40140919]Pretty impressive, ideally this sort of optimization could be spread/applied to all sorts of other systems, not just traffic (albeit the cost of the system would need to be justified by how much cost will be saved in the long run, be it time/money/fuel/etc).[/QUOTE] 2.8 minutes may not sound like much but if you factor in how many cars there are in LA, it starts to add up real fuckin fast

[QUOTE=don868;40140234]Yes it can. Nuke India. Less mopeds burning petrol.[/QUOTE] How would killing people in India fix people in America?

People in LA should get around the city like this: [IMG]http://www.thenerdlist.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/futurama.jpg[/IMG]

[QUOTE=cqbcat;40141247]People in LA should get around the city like this: [IMG]http://www.thenerdlist.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/futurama.jpg[/IMG][/QUOTE] Yes, with the flying cars shown in the background.

[QUOTE=archangel125;40140751]Shoot this guy. Fewer idiots to make jokes in poor taste.[/QUOTE] Shoot this guy. Less guys to talk about shooting guys. [QUOTE=Used Car Salesman;40140214]Eh, all the technology in the world can't fix millions of cars driven by millions of people who can't drive properly.[/QUOTE] ...what about self-driving cars?

Weird, I've seen the sign "Synchronized Traffic Signals" on the lights in LA for a few years now. I didn't think it was new. It's still not on every traffic light though. Still, the system has been used in many cities, such as Hong Kong (which pretty much is on every light as well), Sydney, Shanghai etc. I've seen the SCATS (Sydney Coordinated Adaptive Traffic System) system, which is used in many many cities, in Melbourne. It's absolutely amazing. I once got stuck a traffic light, because the sensor was broken, and called the traffic authority. They could see something went wrong and were able to remotely trigger the green (but I had already booted from there). Almost every light in Melbourne is connected to the system.

[QUOTE=toastedspyro;40140443]A whole family riding on one scooter is more environmentally friendly than a single guy driving a car.[/QUOTE] Dont scooters and bikes also produce a lot of unfriendly gases compared to cars who actually have the filters and whatnot? Atleast according to Mythbusters.

That's cool, now maybe their sister city I'm from, Manchester, can learn a little bit from this :v:

[QUOTE=Sector 7;40141415] ...what about self-driving cars?[/QUOTE] No thanks. I already feel like an automatic gearbox is too much control taken away from me.

It has nothing to do with traffic light synchronization. I work in the traffic industry and I can safely say that the massive amount of volume density in LA boils down to the small size of the 405 and 5 freeways. Were they to expand the 5 to 5 lanes instead of 3, the problem would be rectified. The issue here is that the 5 passes through an extremely small corridor that leaves little room for expansion. Anyone who has traveled south on the 5 through LA will notice that when the 5 becomes 6 lanes, instantly the congestion clears.

[QUOTE=Aetna;40144820]It has nothing to do with traffic light synchronization. I work in the traffic industry and I can safely say that the massive amount of volume density in LA boils down to the small size of the 405 and 5 freeways. Were they to expand the 5 to 5 lanes instead of 3, the problem would be rectified. The issue here is that the 5 passes through an extremely small corridor that leaves little room for expansion. Anyone who has traveled south on the 5 through LA will notice that when the 5 becomes 6 lanes, instantly the congestion clears.[/QUOTE] I just came back from norcal and I took the 5 south and I couldn't believe how they managed to fit that freeway through some spots. In some areas the limit drops to 50 or something and makes very sharp turns while going uphill or downhill. I wonder if another lane would even fit there but it better not be another carpool/ hov thing, thats just a waste of a lane. Imagine how many more cars can go in those lanes if it wasn't carpool restricted

[QUOTE=galenmarek;40140167]It's not desert. There are forests and marshes here and and nearest desert I can think of is a fair bit away.[/QUOTE] What are you talking about. You'll get to area 69 in about ten minutes.

No, the real issue is that people don't know how to drive. They merge into lanes without signaling, tailgate drivers up the ass (even in traffic), and text&drive. These small accidents cause a ton of traffic.

[img]http://gamerillaz.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/WATCH_DOGS-logo.jpg[/img]

Uh, hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I'm pretty sure LA isn't the "first" city to totally synchronize every signal. I'd be more than willing to bet some smaller cities went ahead and dumped the money into a system like this, it would be so much cheaper to just put up signals with this kind of system in place (developed by a third party of course) than retrofit existing signals with this tech. It's neat stuff but less-interconnected systems have been in use since the 70s and 80s. Plus, highways in Europe basically have similar systems, just with matrix signs and onramp metering instead of basic 4-ways. I would be surprised if in the past 30-40 years, nobody has done anything similar.

[QUOTE=archangel125;40140751]Shoot this guy. Fewer idiots to make jokes in poor taste.[/QUOTE] u sound buttpaine pls no buttpayne

The system isn't perfect, but its definitely helping out. It's awesome when you're at the right place at the right time and you encounter endless greenlights. Makes driving in LA that much more pleasant.

[QUOTE=toastedspyro;40140443]A whole family riding on one scooter is more environmentally friendly than a single guy driving a car.[/QUOTE] We should nuke everywhere except India then :downs: