Too many transportation engineers and planners have a hard time figuring out how to use traffic signals to improve the flow of traffic. More often than not, a green light leads to a red light and then another red light. Yes, the ebb and flow of traffic coming in from the crossing streets has to be considered and made a part of the equation, but there are computers and engineers that should be able to figure all of this out. Traffic lights could be more help than hindrance. That’s the message behind a study, the 2007 Traffic Signal Report Card that was just unveiled by the National Transportation Operations Coalition.

The NTOC report shows that improper traffic signal timing accounts for 5 to 10 percent of all traffic delays. Some of the biggest problems cited are those that each of us experience on a regular basis, including:

1. Signal sequences where drivers pass through a green light at one intersection only to find a red light at the next intersection.

2. Making drivers stop at intersections where there are no vehicles and no pedestrians at the cross street.

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3. Intersections where drivers must sit through more than one green cycle of the lights.

The NTOC says time wasted because of the timing of traffic signals impacts a broad range of economic, social and environmental issues. In the summary of the Coalition report, it states “Congestion not only wastes fuel, time and money, but it is also a significant factor in shaping the quality of life for individuals and families.”

The report then rates with a grade what is being done on a national level. If this was the report card of a high school student, I don’t think that that student would be going very far. The Coalition says that management of traffic signals on a national level gets a D-minus, the operation of individual signals gets a C and the coordination among traffic signal systems gets a D. The worst grade of all goes to Traffic Monitoring and Data Collection, which gets an F.

TRAFFIC CAMERAS TO HELP DURING AMBER ALERTS

This seems like a bit of a no-brainer: Legislators in West Virginia are preparing to introduce a bill that would allow traffic cameras to be used to track vehicles during Amber Alerts. These would be vehicles known to be tied to child abduction cases.

Using a federal grant, West Virginia officials will be able to install about 100 cameras along highways that are mostly in urban areas. These cameras will not be installed until the end of next year, but The Associated Press quotes House Majority Leader Joe DeLong saying it will be like enlisting an “electronic guardian angel.”