Ken Quoted

I could have used some help with the traffic tonight. After being delayed by a meeting, traffic was a nightmare and it took me 90 minutes to drive 26 miles. Still a little sore from moving furniture, too.

Wireless Hookup Will Let County Adjust Traffic Signals
By Alison Shackelford Hewitt
Copley News Service - DailyBreeze.com

Quotes:
>>The signals -- near Del Aire, Hawthorne, El Segundo, Athens and Gardena -- are the first to be connected to the county's new traffic management center. Signals in other unincorporated areas with heavy traffic, including Marina del Rey, will eventually follow, said Ken Pellman, a spokesman for the county Department of Public Works.

"These signals right now are timed, and most of them are synchronized ... and the only variation (in how long they stay red or green) is caused by detectors in the pavement, which are triggered by the cars passing over them," Pellman said.

"We're going to equip these signals so that they can be controlled and monitored," he continued. "We can change the timing to alleviate some problems, and we can respond to malfunctions faster because we'll be able to see what's going on from the traffic management center."
[snip]
"If there's an accident, and one intersection is blocked, we'll want to change the timing on nearby intersections to clear up traffic. Or if we need traffic to go straight through for an extended period of time -- maybe for a presidential motorcade -- we can put the cross streets on red for a longer period of time," Pellman explained.<<

The technology has been proven elsewhere, and it will save County money, so it is a very good thing.