Recommendation for Thesis/Dissertation

Some brilliant young Doctoral or Masters candidate needs to research and write a paper on the savings in fuel/oil/brake pads/pollution/etc. that could be realized by one simple concept: Time the traffic lights properly in urban areas.

We all have witnessed the successful implementation of such a novel concept on some thoroughfare somewhere. Ask yourself why it can't be done on all streets? Too complicated? I think not. Traffic patterns can be studied and predicted. Traffic lights can be programmed to respond to heavier or lighter traffic conditions. Don't tell me we don't have the technology. I've seen the video of men walking on the lunar surface. What were we using back then? Slide rules, abaci, and computers with roughly the same power as your electronic bathroom scale?

Think of all the fuel you are expending idling there, not to mention how much it takes to build up your vehicle's momentum after a stop. Now multiply that by tens of millions. What would it cost for a city to time their lights to promote better traffic flow? What are the savings? There must be hundreds of corollary benefits such as reduced stress, fewer road rage incidents, and fewer fender-benders. That's what I would like our thesis examinee to find out.

It might also be interesting to find out why the-powers-that-be have not already taken the initiative to make their cities more easily navigable. Some reasons might include: the desire for more traffic incidents to occur for the purpose of issuing fines; the desire to sell more fuel for the purpose of collecting more taxes; the desire to slow down the flow of traffic for the purpose of encouraging patronage of local businesses (so as to collect more taxes).

You may notice those examples have one thing in common. I cannot believe that there is any other reason stopping us ("we" the consenting governed) from saving ourselves money, time, and aggravation other than political. After all, when a government collects money, it boils down to politics, doesn't it?