Traffic control causes congestion

Posted on 18th June 2012 by Martin Cassini

Monmouth. A40 southbound approaching the A466 (Wye Valley/Tintern Abbey route). Got caught there in diabolical congestion five years ago. Heading north to Ross-on-Wye last Friday, we saw the same half-mile 3-lane tailback and were reminded of it. Luckily we returned early Sunday morning. The roads were deserted, but as we approached, the lights changed to red against us. After checking there was no conflicting traffic, I turned left anyway. Unquestionably, those lights are largely responsible for the daily congestion that plagues that stretch. Up and down the land, the same assault on our time, pockets and the planet continues unabated. Will the traffic managers responsible ever appear in the dock?

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Designing for danger

Posted on 16th June 2012 by Martin Cassini

The priority-based system is designed for danger (unequal rights, conflicting speeds, distracting signals, etc), then traffic officers devise increasingly expensive systems (more of the above, pedestrian countdown, etc)  to mitigate the danger they themselves have cooked up. You can of course design for safety, pace Equality Streets. Somehow, lily-livered politicians have ceded power to unelected officials who lord it over us to our detriment and at our cost. Any old irony?

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Brassed off

Posted on 6th June 2012 by Martin Cassini

Today I was timing the traffic lights in Braunton (near Barnstaple) where I still have plans for a lights-off trial, despite a refusal from Devon Highways and apathy from the current Parish Council. The trial is to prove the obvious: that we’re better off under self-control, without lights or priority. 45 secs of red time for the main A39, 40 secs for Caen Rd to/ from Croyde. There is no pedestrian phase; as the lights change against one stream of traffic, they change for the other. Once, I was crossing the junction on foot as the lights changed. I didn’t run. Why should I? I have just as much right to the road space – or I should have. In doing so, I delayed a Mercedes, first in line, by maybe two seconds. As I reached the pavement and he set off, he sounded his horn which echoed incongruously around the village, prompting a middle finger from me. Of course I blame the driver far less than I blame the traffic control system which turns Jekylls into Hydes.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Equality = no austerity

Posted on 4th June 2012 by Martin Cassini

Does Will Hutton have a tendency to exaggerate bad news? In this piece, he quotes economics professor, Yanis Varoufakis: “There is zero chance of austerity working. It’s like thinking you can escape gravity by waving your arms up and down.” Broadsheet comment used to be all about the inevitability of painful cuts. Now it’s all about the desirability of growth. Will wants government to borrow, and quotes Keynes in his defence. I can’t quote anyone in support of me (yet), but at the risk of repetition: without needing to shell out vast sums, traffic system reform can provide growth and tens of billions of painless cuts. OK, Will is talking in trillions. Hundreds of trillions in bad bank contracts and loans. Underwritten by governments. So “private bank debt has steadily become public debt … where the gains were privatised and the losses socialised.” So much for the “free” market. But Equality Streets would still do more good on more levels, I submit, than most of the pendulum-swinging proposed in this article.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Wind or traffic lights?

Posted on 3rd June 2012 by Martin Cassini

Proposed cuts to windfarm subsidies are rattling recipients, and challenging government claims to be “the greenest ever”. No less a seer than James Lovelock rubbished the claims made for wind power. I’m blue from saying it, but not only can traffic system reform provide vast efficiency savings, kind cuts, growth, improved air quality and quality of life, it can cut emissions and help achieve CO2 reduction targets, all at minimal cost. Is anyone listening?

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Guernsey, the home of FiT (filter in turn), gets a traffic light

Posted on 2nd June 2012 by Martin Cassini

Article here.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

One roundabout, 70 traffic lights

Posted on 2nd June 2012 by Martin Cassini

Funny how Highways Agency spokespersons are never named. The roundabout is at Canford Bottom, near Bournemouth. Article and photograph here.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Tale of a late-night driver

Posted on 1st June 2012 by Martin Cassini

Courtesy of imgur

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Parking

Posted on 31st May 2012 by Martin Cassini

PM had an item claiming traffic wardens are welcome back after a break from duty (no April Fool apparently). No-one minds reasonable regulation, but parking enforcement is overwhelmingly unreasonable, vexatious, even extortionate. How many times have we been ticketed, clamped or towed for inoffensive, non-obstructive parking?

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Brick walls

Posted on 30th May 2012 by Martin Cassini

Our traffic control system makes roads dangerous, causes congestion, generates ill-will, encourages delinquency, damages air quality, damages our health, and costs a fortune. Despite my efforts to enlighten government and media (over the years I’ve emailed the Today programme a dozen times without reply), they remain blithely ignorant of its defects and potential for both constructive spending cuts and economic growth.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment