Efficiency? Wherefore art thou efficiency?
For obvious reasons Canadians are rethinking the ways vehicles are used. Whether it be consolidating errands and appointments, altering driving habits (coasting through stop signs, saves gas and brakes too!), or just parking the damned things, the drive! to mobile efficiency vs life under a bridge has transformed Canucks into freakin' unintended greenoids! Not a bad thing.....
Once on the road though, armed with eco knowledge, how complementary is a Municipalities' traffic management system? Traffic lights, hate em or hate em, continue to breed. Synchronization and motion detectors have been around since before, well, technology. A camera can capture a licence plate moving through an intersection with a brilliant red light, with amazing clarity. Surely there must be opportunities for better traffic flows using technology. And if the guy responsible for coordinating flows is having a bad day, how many thousands of litres of fuel is collectively wasted until corrected. Remember the raw sewage into the Ottawa river? Who is finding small efficiencies which, when extrapolated over zillions of motors, makes for significant consumption reductions?
Bicycles, gotta love em. People powered, no carbon crap, just look at the Chinese. OK, bad example. But in an effort to avoid running down fellow human beings, how much additional carbon dioxide is contributed through the accumulated slowing down/braking/accelerating of vehicles all along the bicyclists' route. Is there still a net gain? Anyone counting? Comments?