Our city planners (when it comes to traffic) are rediculous. They don't get the concept of traffic flow. Instead they think it is important for any idiot to turn left or right any time they friggin want to, so we have all these lights that dumb down a 4-6 lane intersection to a 2-lane turner's paradise. Meanwhile the cars back up and miss 2-3 lights. Downtown is better, at least they have one way streets and no left turns. They finally did likewise along Granville corridor, but it took 4-ever to figure this out. Oh ya, and the bus/HOV curb lanes didn't work. Gone, finally. Thankyou! Once the dedicated full-width bike lanes are killed after someone realizes they are mostly empty while traffic backs up, the city will be better off. So here's a recipe for flow:
1. If it doesn't have a dedicated turn lane, it's no-left-turns 7am-9am, 3pm-6pm. Gonna have to move that to 7pm soon
2. Fuck the advance greens during rush hour. Kill 'em. Plan your fucking routes for right turns people. 3 rights is better than 1 left at a major intersection. You can't turn left off Burrard or Georgia very often for a good reason--it keeps congestion down, yet people still manage to get where they are going. Encourage us to think!
3. Actually enforce that rule that slower traffic needs to keep right. Ticket the doddlers in the left lane. Assholes. I know, I speed by them in the right lane and act like an ass too, but if they stayed where they belong (behind the bus), I wouldn't have to. Fucking Volvo drivers, and a few Range Rovers where the driver can't quite see over the dash board. Get the fuck over!
4. Define some dedicated flow corridors. Not highways, but sensible streets we need to protect. Look at the fiasco of Marine Drive in North Van. Fuck I'd rather have hot pointy needles poked in my eyes than have to drive from Capilano to Iron Workers along Marine Drive. Only alternative is to jump all the way up to Hwy 1, but we shouldn't have to. Oh, by the way, traffic lights stop traffic, they don't facilitate flow. Duh. Stop killing the few flow routes we still have with ped lights and minor street stop lights. We need to declare streets that move as an endangered species and get federal grant to study them to death and stiffle more lights. Oh the peds? The smart ones won't have a problem. Darwin will take care of the dumb ones.
5. You time the lights for 50Km/hr, we'll do 100 to try and make the next one. You time them for 60, we'll do 65. Reasonably. But 50Km? Lifes too short. Good luck with that conservative too goodie-goodie bullshit policy
6. Oh, and here's my best idea yet: Get rid of the stupid speed bumps in 'traffic calmed areas'. Put in hookers instead. Naturally slows traffic
Punt.