Comment on A new study found adaptive traffic signals powered by big data reduced peak-hour travel times by 11% in China’s 100 most congested cities – saving 31.73 million tonnes of CO₂ annually.

Dogyote@slrpnk.net ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

• sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

  They have more catch-up to do. The US already does things like traffic control, but they have a different goal: they want drivers to feel like they’re making progress instead of actually improving things.

  For example, we put traffic signals everywhere instead of teaching people to use traffic circles. Why? Drivers like to drive fast and would rather stop than slow down. Traffic circles improve flow, but they do reduce average speed, whereas traffic lights decrease flow and increase average speed. It’s stupid, but we’re entitled jerks who like to show off at signals.

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  • Dogyote@slrpnk.net ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    but they have a different goal: they want drivers to feel like they’re making progress instead of actually improving things.

    Sorry but I want a source for that claim.

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    • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

      That was a bit tongue in cheek, but my point is that we’re ignoring an obvious solution due to inertia. Here’s a short video by John Stossel interviewing the mayor of Carmel, Indiana, which converted to roundabouts, and here’s a longer CNBC video about them as well. That second video is interesting because it shows that roundabouts started here in the US, but fell out of favor when salespeople pitched signals as cities electrified.

      Here’s a video that’s a bit more critical, and the main argument against roundabouts is they’re expensive and disruptive to put in. That’s true, but it doesn’t explain why new signal-based intersections are put in.

      Politicians will take the lowest fiction solution to keep their positions. Switching to roundabouts is a large political risk, even if it’s backed by science. People hate change, and roundabouts are annoying to get used to.

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• CosmoNova@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

  More and more countries are using mass surveillance to control the population so China might not be the only ones using it to deal with traffic at all.

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• cyberpunk007@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

  Take a look at the USA government right now. 😜

  But ya you’re right, anyone could have been doing this for a long time. I guess it’s just politics.

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  • NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    You wanna reduce traffic times with these better lights? Think of all the billions of dollars lost to advertisers since people won’t be forced to look at their ads now while waiting!

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    • cyberpunk007@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

      Oh God no

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