Turning Off Traffic Lights

A chap called Martin Cassini is trying to convince councils that the secret to saving our roads from pollution, gridlock and accidents is to turn off traffic lights. Sounds crazy? Have a look at his piece on BBC Newsnight from a couple of years ago:-

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/7187165.stm
(watch the report video clip)

After a small but successful pilot at a junction in Portishead he came within a whisker of getting Bristol City Council to trial this but they lost their nerve yet this sort of thing has been shown to work in a number of European towns and cities.

This idea may not be a panacea but any potential reduction in congestion, pollution, accidents, fuel consumption, roadside paraphernalia and daft cycle lanes has got to be worth exploring. What's particularly compelling about this is that it avoids the knee-jerk and hypocritical 'war on motorists' which much of current green transport rhetoric seems to involve. Instead, all road users are treated as equals.

Could 'Environment City' Leicester be the place to properly pioneer this, perhaps under the auspices of a bold new elected Mayor?

More details of Martin Cassini's campaign here:-
http://www.fitroads.com/
http://www.facebook.com/#!/FiTRoads
http://twitter.com/FiTRoads