Do We Need Traffic Lights?

Not according to Hans Monderman, a “traffic planner” who is behind the removing of all traffic lights in the northern Dutch town of Drachten (see the article in the Telegraph). The experiment started seven years ago and seems to be working. According to the article, at least two road-related deaths have been avoided since the beginning of the project. Cars go slower but the traffic is smoother so overall one gets around faster.

The article seems to be saying that efficient traffic without traffic lights was achieved by removing all intersections and replacing them with roundabouts. Roundabouts make the traffic smoother and safer, as they limit speed. However, it doesn’t tell us at what cost the operation was done. So while it may be true that roundabouts make the presence of traffic lights unnecessary, they don’t come for free. While I don’t have much sympathy for the type of cost-benefit analysis policy makers and other city planners generally do, I’d be interested in seeing what came out of that exercise to justify removing all traffic lights and replacing them with roundabouts.

Interestingly (or strangely?), the article explains that the system works because it heightens danger on the road by removing the sense of safety one gets with traffic lights, thereby disciplining drivers more. Out of all this seems to emerge some spontaneous rules regulating the traffic among cars, cyclists, and pedestrians. Perhaps it would be worth some field study.

At the end of the day, I am not sure that roundabouts are better than intelligent traffic lights, which regulate traffic taking into account the flow of cars. But since intelligent traffic lights are still too expensive, this is not yet a choice—although traffic planners may think otherwise.

(For those who are not familiar with it, Israel Kirzner has a very good paper explaining the market process using the idea of intelligent traffic lights. It will be republished in the Collected Works.)

Comments

[gg]

In Asia I observed that they worked well to improve flow on congested roads. The argument I was given is that the older traffic lights were poorly maintained, and the govt could not be relied upon to handle congestion that inevitably set in when one broke down. Moreover, people's conventions about lights were dependent on whether police were observed.

I'm surprised that this is showing up in Europe though.

[Dennis]

"Interestingly (or strangely?), the article explains that the system works because it heightens danger on the road by removing the sense of safety one gets with traffic lights, thereby disciplining drivers more."

Tullock have a similar idea, regarding seat belts, doesn't he?

[frederic]

Yes, and he said we should put a dagger in the steering wheel. But I am not sure roundabouts really remove the sense of safety that one has with traffic lights; they just slow down people because the road pattern changes.

[pinus]

Roundabouts are very common in Europe nowadays. They indeed make traffic smoother and slower, so they are used heavily in residential areas. The cost of building them is lower than building a new traffic light system (even that non-intelligent one).

However, it is true that roundabouts are not always an improvement for traffic flow. If the traffic gets really heavy, then roundabouts might get more congested.