W. K. Lis
Superstar
I'll expect that the anti-pedestrian councillors (IE. Councillors Mark Grimes, Stephen Holyday, Mike Colle, etc.) will look for ways to veto that.
Our cartoonist Bill Roundy got angry after reading our coverage last week about how America is far behind the Netherlands, England, Germany and Norway in making roads safer.
Researchers found that Denmark, Germany, Netherlands and the United Kingdom reduced per capita pedestrian fatalities by at least 61 percent over the last three decades (Denmark did so by a whopping 69 percent!), but the U.S. reduced ours by just 36 percent.
There are lots of reasons for our failure to achieve true gains, but Roundy — being Roundy — focused on the main villain: cars. Enjoy.
All of Bill Roundy’s cartoons are archived here.
I'll belive it when I see it.
Announcement today from Mayor Tory on some congestion and ‘safety’ initiatives via David Rider:
Highlights:
- 500 traffic signals that respond to demand
- 100 pedestrian signals that respond to demand (video technology?)
- 100 new transit priority signals. Possibility (?) of rolling this out city-wide
- Construction hub pilot; providing one place for staging trucks for developments in an area (also I saw mention of reducing lane closures)
Announcement today from Mayor Tory on some congestion and ‘safety’ initiatives via David Rider:
Highlights:
- 500 traffic signals that respond to demand
- 100 pedestrian signals that respond to demand (video technology?)
- 100 new transit priority signals. Possibility (?) of rolling this out city-wide
- Construction hub pilot; providing one place for staging trucks for developments in an area (also I saw mention of reducing lane closures)
Yes - as per announcement today, this would be passive, camera-based technology. If I understand correctly it's 'localized' as well (no cloud requirement?) But I'm unsure about the second part.I hope by "100 pedestrian signals that respond to demand" means traffic signals that would behave like the grocery store doors, and turn on without having to press a button.
The compute required is not that significant, so cloud should not be needed.Yes - as per announcement today, this would be passive, camera-based technology. If I understand correctly it's 'localized' as well (no cloud requirement?) But I'm unsure about the second part.
Honestly, how long did that smart signal pilot project take? The better part of 3 years and it's only now they're finally getting around to implementing it.Man, getting basic transit and infrastructure improvements in this city is like pulling teeth.
Man, getting basic transit and infrastructure improvements in this city is like pulling teeth.
Forgive me for not knowing traffic signal stuff too well. But I was under the impression we did have a fairly robust "smart" traffic system already. I only say this because I recall it being talked about almost ten years ago, and over that time traffic has progressively gotten better. I swear things move much smoother than they did 5, 6, 7yrs ago (discounting Covid stuff of course). Or has that been an illusion because less volume?
Man, getting basic transit and infrastructure improvements in this city is like pulling teeth.
Toronto prefers to study and “consultation” and pilot something to death until events make inevitability obvious. Results in a lot of analysis paralysis. Somewhere, somehow, people designing the processes forgot that “more data” doesn’t mean “better” and there’s always a time/cost/benefit tradeoff.Honestly, how long did that smart signal pilot project take?