Quick Questions – Traffic Lights

Photo by David Watkis on Unsplash

There are different kinds of traffic lights. The worst are simply on a timer. There’s one in Hartford near where I work that is green for about a minute. Then, it is green on the cross-street for about two minutes, then the walk signal comes on. It doesn’t matter if anyone has to go one way or the other or if anyone needs to cross the street. Then there are what I’ll call smart traffic lights. These have sensors or cameras that allow them to change according to the traffic. They also do things like put up a right arrow when the cross-street has a left arrow. I think you get the idea. My question is how much gas is wasted every year because people are stuck idling at a bad traffic light? How much does it contribute to climate change? How would I even find that out?

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