Comment - Our right to see green

GARETH COSTA POLITICIANS LOVE nothing more than announcing headline- making grand plans like the Gauteng monorail and the new PWV highways, but wouldn’t it be great if the transport MEC called a press conference to announce that they had devised a plan to tackle that most elusive of states, namely city-wide synchronised robots? Surely, in this day and age of wireless technology, rechargeable batteries and super powerful cheap microchips, it’s not unthinkable to expect to be able to drive at the speed limit through two, let alone three or four intersections without seeing red? Perhaps there are a few exceptions to the rule, but no matter where, when or even how fast one drives around the streets of Gauteng, synchronisation seems to be an alien notion which most drivers have all but forgotten about. Surely it is our right as licensed, tax-paying vehicle owners and drivers to expect properly synchronised robots, especially on the main arterial routes. Motorists need to start seeing fewer red traffic lights, red stoplights and red faces; its time to see green! Free flowing green light nirvana would divert some traffic away from the highways onto more direct minor roads, reducing stress levels, saving time, increasing productivity and making life better for all. If properly implemented and widely expected it should also lower the incidence of built-up area speeding which would become a superfluous pastime for all except boy racers, but maybe we shouldn’t mention any aspect that might jeopardise municipal revenue collection. Then there are the costs to the motorist and the environment because accelerating from zero to sixty km/h uses up to four times more fuel than simply cruising along continuously at that speed. When one considers being forced to stop unnecessarily three, four or even five times in just a kilometre or two, greater clutch and brake wear become an additional and not insubstantial maintenance cost factor. Fewer stops, especially at night should also reduce hijacking and smash and grab opportunities, helping stubbornly high crime stats. With fuel prices continuing to rise and carbon emission concerns growing by the day, it is time the motoring public demanded traffic authorities divert traffic fine revenue into a comprehensive and effective robot synchronisation system that won’t fall over every time there is a power cut. Since the status quo is already such a mess, it is not necessary to embark on six month traffic studies of each and every route to determine traffic flows, its really simple common sense to know which routes are important. After the initial synchronization there can be some tweaking. Without any procrastination its time to embrace technology, identify traffic critical north-south and east-west main routes and ensure that our roads flow like young oxygenated arteries, not cholesterol congealed veins.