Car Vlog 008-011 (Synchronized Lights – an Environmental Issue)

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Welcome to another episode of Car Vlog… I’ve got a bunch of these backvlogged so I thought I better get posting. Here is a mash dealing with synchronized lights.

I really pay attention to driving. I almost became a civil engineer because I like the concept of city planning. Ideally without cars but if we have them we may as well not make them sit around idling.

Hamilton is a great city to drive in because it has synchronized lights. I can go from one side to the other through maybe 50 lights or so at 50 or 60 km/hr in about 15-20 minutes non stop!

When I go to and from work (in rush hour) I go through about 10-20 lights past McMaster University without stopping and it takes 5 minutes. I then go through 10 or so lights in Oakville to get from the 407 down Trafalgar to Sheridan College where I teach. Here the lights are not synchronized and it takes me 10-15 minutes – often waiting at one light twice!

Of course it is not just me… it is all the students, the business workers, the home owners, etc. All waiting with our engines idling.

I talked to some city planners about this off the record. They said that they do not synchronize the lights in some areas so these areas do not become thoroughfares. Well… I think it is a little late for that and thoroughfares for whom? I mean, only the people who need to go down the road for some reason go on the road and they are going to do it regardless. So why make them stop at half the lights!

In a slightly related matter, one aspect of synchronized lights going through the downtown core of your city is that your city will seem less busy and more like something to just pass through. You are not stopped to see stores and connect to your community. So Toronto seems much more busy as herds of cars stop and go. But Hamilton, seems almost not a city at times because cars just flow right through.

Anyway, these four short mixes make up a mash about the issue. The first one is past McMaster, the next past Sheridan and then past McMaster again and Sheridan again. I apologize for the attitude in my voice more so in the second set. Sometimes this really bothers me. I’ve been planning on taking the issue to the Sheridan members to see if the city can be lobbied for change.