Green Time

source: google image

Green, red and yellow, these are the colors of the traffic lights.
So last friday, I had this training at Cebu City and while i was having my ride towards the training center,I pass by couple of intersections. You see, some of the intersections in cebu aren't just provided with signal lights but with the lights that signify the timing. Those lights that flash mini countdowns on how much time is left before the traffic light turns green. Out of curiosity, I asked my girfriend about it. Turns out there is a complicated process that a designer (preferably a transportation engineer) must compute in order to come up with the most efficient green time. She didn't go into details but she explained the basic data that must be in hand in order to identify the green time:

source: google image

1.) The geometry of the intersection

• There are different forms of intersection, some of which are the T and the Cross . The measurements of the distances and curvature of the intersection must be determined.

2.) The demand

• This means the amount of vehicles that pass through the intersection. This data is difficult to get as the demand varies with the time. For example, on its peak hours, the demand is high.

3.) The connecting intersections

• One cannot design an efficient green time if it doesn't coordinate with the intersections before and after it.

4.) The peak hours

• Which time of the day does the intersection have the highest value of demand. Those are just few of the data a designer must consider.

It made me think how we don't notice the little things in the city that make our lives more efficient. Just like the green time, if the designer have not computed it properly, imagine what would it be like to live in the city without efficiency. Engineering really does make our lives easier and better. These are the things to ponder.

Time has a wonderful way of showing us what really matters

---

You might like to read my previous posts:

MY FIRST APPEARANCE IN 4th Cebu Steemit Bloggers Meet-up

@surpassinggoogle 's Untalented Contest: "Who am I?"

My PET PEEVE