This article is all well and good, but the BIG problem are traffic lights. Traffic lights are undoubtedly the problem.
What can replace lights? Roundabouts. Plain and simple OR a startup that can compete with the current traffic light system.
What can replace lights? Roundabouts. Plain and simple OR a startup that can compete with the current traffic light system.
A roundabout replaced a set of traffic lights at a 3-way intersection in a crevasse next to SR-18 in Auburn, WA. It's a tight fit and difficult to navigate, and trucks regularly jump the curb.
After driving it, I really wish they could change it back.
For example, I regularly drive across a four-way roundabout; there are strong, almost continuous traffic streams coming from the north and west entrances, exiting mostly east and north. This means that while traffic from the west still mostly manages to merge, traffic from the south is regularly backed up, as there are only a few "slots" left in the roundabout traffic flow where it could merge. This is a spot that would be better served with traffic lights.
So, I don't think there's one "The Problem" in traffic engineering, generally solvable.
The startup. HNs cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems.
Traffic is a political problem, not an engineering problem.