Programmers and Traffic Lights

Anyone who has spent time in Asia and places like Thailand, India and Indonesia will tell you that the craziest driving can be found in these places. In some respects this is true. I have been caught in some epic traffic jams while living in Bangkok.

People who know both places tell me that whoever set up the traffic patterns in Sydney must at least be related to the people who did it for Bangkok. Possibly but my experience is in Adelaide which I now dub the worst traffic programming on the planet.

You are talking about a small city in international terms but somehow the councils and government has managed to completely mess up the traffic patters in Adelaide. I suspect it all started when they brought in the 40/50/60 km/h zones. For some reason some bright spark figured that this would somehow save lives. There is at best anecdotal evidence to support this.

What it has done is made the traffic light phases a mess. If you drive in a 50 zone at 50 you will miss the lights, if you drive at 60 you will make them. People come out of 50 zones and drive that speed in 60 zones. At best this causes those who can read some annoyance that they are not only stuck behind such individuals but that they also miss the lights.

Drivers in Adelaide also appear to be dosed up on Ritalin. They leave the lights at a glacial pace, make right hand turns in such a way to double the time people need to wait at red lights and seem to be oblivious to anyone else on the road. Many drivers do not enter the intersection to prepare for a right turn at lights. I am sure that this is taught by driving instructors. People are afraid to pass or drive next to a bus or a semi.

All in all I vote Adelaide drivers and council planners the worst I have seen. Then there are the traffic light programmers either they are not getting the right information to do reprogram the lights or it is the fault of the councils. On second thought I doubt the problems lie with the programmers at all.

Finally there is the Wakefield/ Grote street road changes. Some bright spark in the council decided to cut off one lane before the Central Markets to widen the footpath in front of the Hotel. This has caused no end of traffic problems for a major artery that feeds to the Airport. All for a pretty sidewalk. Then they banned U-Turns on the same road making visiting the market a painful experience. All in all about the worst civic planning I have ever seen.