Toronto Sun
I have come across what might be a simple fix, or improvement, to one of the problems tying up traffic in downtown Toronto.
There are many reasons traffic doesn’t flow as it should, and all parties — motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians — are to blame.
This is mostly because people care only about themselves, refusing to participate in what must be a cooperative effort.
But for a moment, let’s consider pedestrians and the countdown lights.
When the light changes and the human figure is illuminated in white, pedestrians have the right to enter the intersection.
When the red hand is displayed and the countdown starts, no one is supposed to enter the intersection on foot.
This is in order to create a break in the foot traffic to allow cars to make a turn.
When the cars can’t turn, traffic backs up.
Pedestrians have no excuse for not knowing how the rules work. At many intersections the rules are right there on the yellow box that also contains the button people push to get the light to change in their favour.
(By the way, does that button actually work, or is it a placebo just to make us think we have accomplished something?)
But for those who don’t do a lot of useful thinking as they wander through their day, a simple change in how the lights work might get through to them.
While on vacation I spotted an intersection with a light system that works a bit differently.
When the light turned red for cars, the walk light turned in favour of the pedestrians and the countdown clock started immediately. When the countdown reached zero, the red hand was displayed.
At that point, with neither a “walk†sign or countdown in evidence, it seemed more intuitive that a pedestrian is not supposed to enter the intersection.
The countdown clock as we have it in Toronto, and in many other cities, seems to many pedestrians to be a useful way to know how much time they have left to make it across, and they regularly dash to get to the other side, with only seconds left on the countdown clock.
Others push the limits of the remaining time they have and meander across.
Small changes can add up on the road to accomplishing a big goal, and smoothly operating traffic is a big goal.
Mayor John Tory’s policy of towing cars when they are parked illegally during rush hour is a good one.
Perhaps the light system I am suggesting will clear up a bit of traffic congestion.
The biggest obstacle to overcome, however, is that too many people don’t care whether their actions impact others.
Many drivers are aggressive and unwilling to cooperate with others.
They turn when it endangers pedestrians, cut off others in traffic and lane hop dangerously and stupidly — which doesn’t actually move them far ahead — and they run the light well after it has turned red.
Bicycle riders are among the biggest scofflaws in traffic, which is so obvious there is nothing more to say.
Meanwhile many pedestrians who do know the rules, don’t care.
Most of the problems are due to selfishness.
But perhaps by making the light system more intuitive, some of the backed up traffic will have a chance to move.
Agar hosts the 9 a.m. to noon show on Newstalk1010
