SCIENTIFIC SYSTEM OF LIGHTS

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 22, 18 September 1931, Page 6

SCIENTIFIC SYSTEM OF LIGHTS

As a preliminary to the installation of the system, the traffic was closely studied, frequent censuses being taken at many points, while at impor- ! tant point corners and junctions photographs were taken at fixed intervals of a few seconds. Subsequent study of these photographs indicated how far each vehicle moved in a given time, and in what way the traffic was getting jammed. When full information had been secured and analysed, a scientific system of traffic lights, regulated from a small office in the City Hall, was installed

with beneficial results. It is stated that even at the busiest time of the day it is possible to proceed at a steady pre-determined speed of about eig'ht or nine miles an hour without ever having to stop at a crossing. Where traffic is lighter, the signals ] are so timed that the uninterrupted speed may be as high as from 20 to 30 miles an hour. The most likely point for vehicle traffic to encounte? stoppages, in fact, is when turning into a main artery, but once there . progress along it at a safe speed is uninterrufpted. The effect of this reform on economical transport operation is obvious. The ag'gregate waste of power from fuel consumption during traffic delays in any city, is incalculable, but it will readily be seen that it must be enormous.