I know you've all been craving the second installment of "Adventures in Driving." Today's (very short) topic pretty much fell in my lap as I was reading The Shanghai Daily online. Here's a quote from the paper:
"The measures include installing a signal controller on the buses to make sure they always get a green light when they reach a crossroad."
This is really an amazing idea. I have to admit, when I lived in Oklahoma, I would have paid good money for a trick like this! But those of us who live or have lived in southeastern Michigan realize the havoc that messing with the signals can create on the roads. I'm wondering if any of the local transportation gurus have really thought this through.
Shanghai has a lot of buses. What happens if 2 buses approach the same light from different directions? Or if a bus comes up behind a broken* car and is stuck there for a while? I almost can't process the crazy scenarios careening through my mind!
Next time we'll talk about red lights and learn why none of what you just read really matters.
If you'd like to read the entire article, try this link (I have a moderate level of success accessing articles from places other than the main webpage): http://www.shanghaidaily.com/nsp/Metro/2012/04/19/New%2Bbus%2Bservices%2Bto%2Bshare%2Bburden%2Bof%2BMetro/
*Broken is Mr. Mao's term for any vehicle that has been in an accident or has died on the road.
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