Roads: Traffic Signals

[ShonTron]

New or replacement permanent traffic signals on Mississauga roads go back to the city's older standard of black casings with yellow blackboard, the type used in Hamilton since the 1960s This is on Bloor Street near Tomken Road. I personally prefer it to the all-yellow standard used in most Ontario municipalities.

Waterloo Region, Sault Ste. Marie, and Sudbury all use this type. Mississauga installed these before, until the mid 1970s (with a few still in use), and Burlington did until 1990 or so. A few municipalities use all-black signals in their downtown areas (Kincardine, Exeter, Kingston, Richmond Hill) as well.

 

[reaperexpress]

New or replacement permanent traffic signals on Mississauga roads go back to the city's older standard of black casings with yellow blackboard, the type used in Hamilton since the 1960s This is on Bloor Street near Tomken Road. I personally prefer it to the all-yellow standard used in most Ontario municipalities.

Waterloo Region, Sault Ste. Marie, and Sudbury all use this type. Mississauga installed these before, until the mid 1970s (with a few still in use), and Burlington did until 1990 or so. A few municipalities use all-black signals in their downtown areas (Kincardine, Exeter, Kingston, Richmond Hill) as well.

View attachment 318161

Black heads with yellow backboards is the combination with the best visibility. The lights themselves contrast highly with the black background, and the yellow backboard is very attention-grabbing.

One of my pet peeves regarding signal head colour are our yellow pedestrian signal heads. The bright yellow colour creates far more visual clutter than an all-black design, and it's only visible from the directions where the signal does not apply. From the front they're already all-black. I'd like it if Ontario municipalities start ordering black heads instead, especially with the increasing number of bicycle or transit signals which are black anyway.

 

[ShonTron]

Black heads with yellow backboards is the combination with the best visibility. The lights themselves contrast highly with the black background, and the yellow backboard is very attention-grabbing.

One of my pet peeves regarding signal head colour are our yellow pedestrian signal heads. The bright yellow colour creates far more visual clutter than an all-black design, and it's only visible from the directions where the signal does not apply. From the front they're already all-black. I'd like it if Ontario municipalities start ordering black heads instead, especially with the increasing number of bicycle or transit signals which are black anyway.

Hamilton uses only black casings for pedestrian signals. I agree, that the colour doesn’t matter for pedestrian signals, so better to go with something that doesn’t have to stick out.

 

[Johnny Au]

Newsletter from Mike Colle pertaining to the new traffic signals at Marlee and Viewmount:

The traffic signals are also useful for those going to or exiting from Glencairn station's Viewmount exit.

 

[mike0001]

I noticed a couple of traffic signals being worked on today:
- College & Palmerston (as mentioned above)
- Bay & St Mary

Also about a week ago I was walking in the Rosedale area and was happy to see a crossing being installed at Mount Pleasant and Roxborough! I can't believe how long that took considering there is a great trail along there and it's very dangerous to cross as a pedestrian.

Speaking of dangerous crossings I wonder if there are any plans for this crossing that seems incomplete. On the West side there is very clearly a path but currently no traffic signal.

Does anyone know where these are posted/approved? I couldn't seem to find them on T.O. INview but I did find a construction notice for the Mount Pleasant one:

https://www.toronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/9680-20ECS-TI-04LR-info-w11-mount-pleasant-tslip-update-1-Apr-5-21.pdf

 

[reaperexpress]

On the narrow subject of truncating signals. I think the thing that drives any person nuts, no matter the mode of transport, is if you find yourself at a signal at 5am on a Sunday, you're the only vehicle/cyclist/pedestrian for kms any which way, and you're there at a red.

Obviously it would not impair safety if you went across (as pedestrians almost certainly would); but as a motorist (or transit operator) one can't be ignorant of a potentially serious and expensive ticket.
The fact the light has a 'useless' signal, to the value of no one, and can't self-correct seems a real issue in this day in age.
On the simple level, I don't understand why we don't use the principle of the 'flashing red' where you come to a stop, make sure its clear, then go.
That was quite common when I was young (late 70s) lights only cycled during the day and went to flashing red after a certain hour.

Absent that, we need a light that recognizes when its wasting people's time to no particular benefit.

Toronto used flashing red/yellow at night for while, but stopped doing that after tests found that leaving the signals on normally at night reduced the number of collisions. Which is a bit counterintuitive considering how many people ignore the lights at night or drive excessively fast through greens, but apparently that's what they found.

In most cases if you're waiting at a red light for no reason in the middle of the night along a minor street, it's probably due to the signal operating in Coordinated mode, as per this policy:

City of Toronto Traffic Signal Operating Policies (2015)

I quickly show the difference between Coordinated and Uncoordinated operation in this video:

The issue here is that signal coordination in Toronto is based on a single fixed "yield point". Which means that each cycle there is only one precise moment when the light is allowed to turn to yellow along the main street. Even with a shortened cycle during the night plan (e.g. 60 seconds), you could potentially wait up to 66 seconds at a red light even though there's no traffic in any other direction.

In contrast, uncoordinated (free) mode is simply based on a minimum green duration for the main street (which has no detectors). Once that time has elapsed, the signal responds immediately to demand on the side street. However, the city policy is to leave the Walk lights on along the main street, so you first need to wait for the full Flashing Don't Walk, Yellow and Red times before you can get a green for the side street.

It's good that they try to reduce coordination at night, but in my opinion they should have gone even further. Even arterial intersections should operate free, unless they are within a few hundred metres of a fixed-time intersection. The premise of signal coordination is that there is a particular moment in the cycle when a red light would have less impact on traffic along the main street, due to the timing of red lights at other nearby intersections. But at night, so many of the red lights along the main street get skipped or end up being shorter than planned that it's totally random when traffic actually shows up along the main street, unless there is a nearby intersection which consistently turns red at particular moments due to being fixed-time.
(Toronto-style) coordination is doubly stupid at night because with super-low volumes, it doesn't make sense to prioritize theoretical traffic on the main street over someone detected on the side street who is definitely actually there.

If it were up to me, the policy would be "On Arterial Roads, signal coordination should only be maintained at fixed-time signals, or semi-actuated signals within 300 metres of a fixed-time signal. On other roadways, signal coordination should only be maintained at fixed-time signals or semi-actuated signals within 150 metres of a fixed-time signal."

If you're waiting at a red at a major-major intersection, or most intersections downtown, the signal is probably totally fixed time and thus doesn't respond at all to the presence or absence of traffic on the thru legs (though it may still respond to left turns).

 

[Monarch Butterfly]

 

[reaperexpress]

^ Here's the OG Dutch traffic signal video:

And the associated blog post is a must-read.

 

[Monarch Butterfly]

^ Here's the OG Dutch traffic signal video:

And the associated blog post is a must-read.

Note that The Netherlands have a RED and YELLOW ARROW traffic signals. Something forbidden in Ontario it seems.

 

[reaperexpress]

Note that The Netherlands have a RED and YELLOW ARROW traffic signals. Something forbidden in Ontario it seems.

Yeah it's literally the first rule in the Highway Traffic Act Regulation on Traffic Signals (HTA reg. 626):

And yes, I agree that it's a stupid rule.

 

[Monarch Butterfly]

The problem is we have bureaucrats and politicians who do not like change or experimentation. They rather enforce (strongly) the current laws, and not improve them.

 

[reaperexpress]

The problem is we have bureaucrats and politicians who do not like change or experimentation. They rather enforce (strongly) the current laws, and not improve them.

That has historically been a quintessentially Ontarian attitude, but it does seem to be changing in recent years. There are a great number of people in City Planning, the TTC and Transportation Services who are taking big steps to upset the status quo. Surely you have noticed the major changes on the streets in the last decade, including:
- Introduction of countless separated bicycle lanes (Sherbourne, River, Harbord, etc);
- Expansion of multi-use trails (Finch Hydro, Gatineau Hydro, etc), built to a higher design standard;
- Introduction of bicycle signals;
- Introduction of legislation on bicycle signals which legalized bicycle-shaped lenses and more relaxed signal placements;
- Introduction of right turn signals to protect pedestrians and cyclists (Hoskin & Queens Park, Bloor & Keele/Parkside; also planned at Danforth & DVP);
- Introduction of leading pedestrian intervals to give pedestrians and sometimes bike a head start relative to cars;
- Narrowing of countles corners to reduce turning speeds and increase pedestrian realm;
- Introduction of contraflow bicycle lanes on formerly one-way local streets;
- Introduction of Toronto bike share, subsequent massive expansion of it;
- Introduction of indoor bicycle parking at several transit stations, including Union, Victoria Park and Finch West;
- Filtered permeability to block cut-through traffic on residential streets, especially along bicycle routes (Shaw St at Essex, etc);
- Elimination of 4-lane pedestrian crossovers, replaced with signals or road narrowings;
- Countless road diets converting formerly 4-lane streets to 2 lanes + left turn lane + bike lane + parking;
- Elimination of through traffic along King Street;
- Introduction of bus-only lanes along Eglinton East and the Queensway;
- Eglinton and Finch LRTs;
- New streetcar ROWs along Cherry, The Queensway (extended eastward to Roncy) & Lakeshore (at Long Branch station);
- Introduction of raised intersection design standards for residential streets
etc. etc.

What we need is for people, rather than whining about the lack of change, to actually take action to support the positive changes which are already proposed. All forms of change need active public support in order to proceed because there is always a very vocal minority of people who oppose them for miscellaneous reasons. That means that you're typically better off attending a public consultation for items such as the above, rather than whining online about the lack of progress.

 

[reaperexpress]

While we're posting traffic signal videos, here's 6 minutes of unedited footage at a fully-actuated signal here in Delft, South Holland, operating during a period of low traffic.
Fully-actuated means that every direction has detectors, and the signal generally tries to cycle as fast as possible. In the video you can see that thanks to the detectors far in advance of the intersection (including for bikes), the signal is usually able to let people pass through without stopping. This is a clear contrast to signals in Toronto which always have at least one direction without detectors, and are thus unable to cycle this quickly (they have to provide extra green time to those directions, just in case).

 

[Monarch Butterfly]

That has historically been a quintessentially Ontarian attitude, but it does seem to be changing in recent years. There are a great number of people in City Planning, the TTC and Transportation Services who are taking big steps to upset the status quo. Surely you have noticed the major changes on the streets in the last decade, including:
- Introduction of countless separated bicycle lanes (Sherbourne, River, Harbord, etc);
- Expansion of multi-use trails (Finch Hydro, Gatineau Hydro, etc), built to a higher design standard;
- Introduction of bicycle signals;
- Introduction of legislation on bicycle signals which legalized bicycle-shaped lenses and more relaxed signal placements;
- Introduction of right turn signals to protect pedestrians and cyclists (Hoskin & Queens Park, Bloor & Keele/Parkside; also planned at Danforth & DVP);
- Introduction of leading pedestrian intervals to give pedestrians and sometimes bike a head start relative to cars;
- Narrowing of countles corners to reduce turning speeds and increase pedestrian realm;
- Introduction of contraflow bicycle lanes on formerly one-way local streets;
- Introduction of Toronto bike share, subsequent massive expansion of it;
- Introduction of indoor bicycle parking at several transit stations, including Union, Victoria Park and Finch West;
- Filtered permeability to block cut-through traffic on residential streets, especially along bicycle routes (Shaw St at Essex, etc);
- Elimination of 4-lane pedestrian crossovers, replaced with signals or road narrowings;
- Countless road diets converting formerly 4-lane streets to 2 lanes + left turn lane + bike lane + parking;
- Elimination of through traffic along King Street;
- Introduction of bus-only lanes along Eglinton East and the Queensway;
- Eglinton and Finch LRTs;
- New streetcar ROWs along Cherry, The Queensway (extended eastward to Roncy) & Lakeshore (at Long Branch station);
- Introduction of raised intersection design standards for residential streets
etc. etc.

What we need for people, rather than whining about the lack of change, to actually take action to support the positive changes which are already proposed. All forms of change need active public support in order to proceed because there is always a very vocal minority of people who oppose them for miscellaneous reasons. That means that you're typically better off attending a public consultation for items such as the above, rather than whining online about the lack of progress.

In contrast with the reversal of bike lanes on Jarvis Street, Brimley Road, etc., the vetoing of sidewalk installation in Etobicoke, and the demanding the end of ActiveTO by the likes of Michael Ford. It's hard having to make sure the improvements make it through and actually stay.

 

[reaperexpress]

In contrast with the reversal of bike lanes on Jarvis Street, Brimley Road, etc., the vetoing of sidewalk installation in Etobicoke, and the demanding the end of ActiveTO by the likes of Michael Ford. It's hard having to make sure the improvements make it through and actually stay.

Yes, hence:

What we need is for people, rather than whining about the lack of change, to actually take action to support the positive changes which are already proposed. All forms of change need active public support in order to proceed because there is always a very vocal minority of people who oppose them for miscellaneous reasons. That means that you're typically better off attending a public consultation for items such as the above, rather than whining online about the lack of progress.