Those traffic lights, as well as others, on normal weekday conditions, result in a traffic bankup of well over a kilometre long.
As, once you get past the traffic lights, the traffic then flows freely, I strongly suggest that it is to do with the traffic light sequencing. To little time is given to the major road, Johnson road, and to much time, to the minor road, Peverell Street.
First, find out who is responsible. That turned out to be a big mistake.
I initially rang Logan City Council (LCC) about the big gouuge that was taken out of Johnson Rd as a consequence of a previous accident and whilst talking to them I asked who is responsible for the traffic lights at the corner of Johnson road and Peverill st.
I was told it was Brisbane City Council (BCC). I rang BCC who told me it as the Queensland government Main Roads. I was transferred to them. They said it was BCC that was responsible. I told them they had said otherwise. The Queensland government person referred me to a website via a text message which shows who is responsible for which roads.
“Thank you for contacting the Queensland Government. Here is the information you requested:
https://qldtraffic.qld.gov.au/lookup.html
Please do not reply”
They then transferred me back to BCC who again told me it was Queensland government responsibility. Seeing they could see I was getting the run around they said they would stay on the line why they transferred me to the appropriate person at the Queensland Government.
That took quite some time. Overall I was on the phone for one hour and 17 minutes. I was transferred to multiple people and often kept on hold. I eventually spoke to Karren of the traffic operations management centre.
Karren pointed out that if anything went wrong with traffic lights that they would send somebody out to fix it. Possible, even if it was LCC or BCC “owned” (I'm not sure if that's the right word) lights. BUT if it was an issue with the sequencing of the lights then it would be the responsibility, in the case of Johnson road and Peverill Street Street, LCC.
She was good enough to note my complaint about the issue and said she would arrange that the appropriate people would investigate it, but could not guarantee that the light sequence would change as a consequence.
As I am quite tenacious, don't like letting things go, and don't like being flogged off, I again rang LCC and this time asked to speak to the person responsible for setting the timing of the lights. I eventually got transferred to Zara, As it was late in the day I was not able to speak to the timing sequencing person(s) but was told someone would ring me back.
All of this took me practically all afternoon.
If it took me this amount of effort to just find out who is responsible for traffic light sequencing, I im concerned as to what other obstacles I will come across trying to get such a sequencing changed.
Although I have have been successful in the past, with getting such changes made, those changes can be of little use if ther are multiple entities involved. Ther seems to be demarcotion problems.
Perhaps my efforts would be better directed in attempting to get all of Queensland traffic lights coordinated by only one entity. Or is that going to create more problems?
What do you think?
Today 7/11/2024 I got a phone call from Mains Roads relative to my request as to who sets the traffic light sequencing for the Johnson road Pevirell Street intersection. He told me it was LCC and said he will pass on my concerns to them
Whilst I was on the phone I used the opportunity to ask him questions about traffic light sequencing, as he said it was a task that he used to do
Ther is practically no limit as to how many sequences can be stored. Hence ther can be multiple different sequencing at different times of the day and days of the week. I get the impression they don't have stored settings for holidays and special events.
Once a sequencing is set it is observed either by cameras, if the are available, otherwise by visiting the site. I did not ask how often they are physically reviewed. Based on my previous experience, it would appear that they seem to only review them when they get feedback from the public.
Different traffic lights along Johnston have ther sequencing set by 3 different entities, Mains Roads,LCC and BCC. For example the lights at Paradise road a set by LCC but the ones at Forestdale drive are set by BCC.
The computer software systems used to control traffic lights is different between LCC and BCC, which means that they have trouble in coordinating them, even if ther was human cooperation.
How many new traffic lights are added each year?
What is the basis of reviewing traffic light sequencing?
How many people are employed doing such reviews? And has that number increased with the increase in the number of traffic lights?
With the projected increase in the population in South East Queensland has allowance been made for increased in traffic lights personnel?
Has the replacement of traffic lights with roundabouts be trailed?
Has the idaa of having only one entity and software system to do traffic light sequencing been proposed? If not, why not?
I'm still waiting for a phone call from LCC. I Wiil ask them the above questions. But that may open up a whole other can of worms.
Any other questions any one else would like to ask?
Are there any traffic lights in Brisbane automatically controlled by cameras?
Yes, there are traffic lights in Brisbane that are automatically controlled by cameras. This technology is called adaptive traffic control or signal control systems. These systems use cameras and sensors to monitor traffic flow and adjust the timing of traffic lights accordingly. This can help to reduce congestion, improve safety, and reduce emissions.
Please give me a specific example?
While I couldn't find a specific, publicly named intersection in Brisbane where camera-controlled traffic lights are explicitly highlighted, the Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) is actively implementing smart motorway technologies across South East Queensland. This includes the use of advanced traffic management systems that utilize cameras and sensors to dynamically adjust traffic light timings. Here's how it works: * Camera Surveillance: Cameras are installed at various points along the motorway to monitor traffic flow, congestion levels, and incident occurrences. * Real-time Data Analysis: The collected data is analyzed by advanced algorithms to identify traffic patterns and potential bottlenecks. * Dynamic Traffic Light Adjustment: Based on the real-time data, the traffic light system can automatically adjust the timing of green and red lights at intersections to optimize traffic flow. This might involve extending green light phases for smoother traffic flow or shortening them to clear congestion. * Incident Response: In case of accidents or other incidents, the system can quickly detect the disruption and adjust traffic light timings to divert traffic away from the affected area. While specific intersections with camera-controlled traffic lights might not be readily available information, it's clear that this technology is being implemented across the region to improve traffic flow and reduce congestion. To get more specific information on the location of camera-controlled traffic lights in Brisbane, you could contact the Department of Transport and Main Roads directly or consult with local traffic authorities.
Adaptive traffic control appears to be, that rather than timing sequences, traffic lights are changed based on real time data of traffic. But it seems most of them still use ground loop sensors rather than cameras. Groundloops aren't usually put a long way back from traffic lights, so don't know when there is a long traffic bankup.
An example is Sydney Coordinated Adaptive Traffic System which I understand is used by 2 of the 3 Queensland traffic light entities but not the third.
This morning 8/11/24 it appeared that the traffic heading east on Johnson road was given a Green Arrow when there was nobody in the right hand turn lane turning into Forestdale drive. This usually means that ther is a fault in that lanes ground loop, so the sequencing changes to give the Green Arrow whether there's a car there or not. This means the traffic westbound is having to wait even though ther is no traffic turning.
My understanding is that ground loops can fail, without those responsible for ther maintenance knowing, take time to be repair and are costly to repair.
An alternative to ground loops are cameras.
I would assume they are less expensive to install and maintain. I get the impression that they are not used because ground loops have always been used.
A big additional benefit of cameras is that with one camera view, it able to see how far back from lights traffic is queued up. To do the same thing with ground loops would require many more of them to be installed.
AI using cameras can be incorporated into systems that change traffic lights base on how long vehicle queues are rather than a timed sequence.
Ther are already cameras installed in Forestdale and Hillcrest that can see most of the traffic along Johnston Rd. As the vehicle queuing processing can be done remotely,I see no need to do anything to make any changes to the existing cameras. All that perhaps, is needed is the ability to feed the queueing data back into the traffic lights or Adaptive traffic control system. See mome on this on the below link.
This looks like it has already been done elsewhere in Brisbane. See: Google AI response to my Questions about camera controled Taffic lights.
Why not do it all the way along Johnson Rd?
Got a phone call from Shaun at the traffic management centre of Logan City council this afternoon, 15/11/2024, re my inquiry about the lights at Pevirell Street. That Peverell Street was getting to longer cycle
He said he that they had previously had complaints of people trying to get through the roundabout in Peverell Street, that were unable to, because cars had been stopping in the roundabout, when the lights were red.
He acknowledged that it was illegal to stop in a aroundabout.
He said he will try and adjust the light timing so as to alleviate the long backup of traffic along Johnson road. However he has to do so in relation to other traffic lights in the area, which are control by other entities, that being BCC and Main Roads.
He does not no why ther are 3 different entities controlling traffic lights. It's probably a matter of History which is hard to undo.
The traffic engineers do not have access to the cameras along Johnston Rd even though they are operated by LCC. It would seem that there are demarcation issues even within the one council. Hence the traffic engineers would not even know if there's a traffic jams along Johnson road.
The present system of using ground loops does not give any indication of how long a queue of cars is. Even if cameras were used, that would have to be done manually because presently there's no way, according to him, of integrating that into traffic light sequencing.
On the question of traffic lights vs roundabouts, he said roundabouts were more efficient in moving traffic. However he also said that sometimes that the traffic engineers did not no about what was going to be install at an intersectionit until it has all been approved
It would seem that to problem with traffic lights is systemic. Just like everything in life that needs a major fundamental change in the way we do things, to see any noticable improvement.
He will be ringing me back next week to see if ther has been any improvements on the congestion around Peverell Street and Johnson road.