Traffic-light synchronization has been affected by coronavirus, too
Q. With the light traffic, signals aren’t switching as quickly as you would think. At night, they switch pretty fast, like they usually do. To me, it seems like every intersection I’m at has traffic signals that are on a pre-set time and are not adjusting to the light traffic.
– Jim Fuchs, Costa Mesa
A. Jim mentioned in a subsequent email that he spends a lot of time in Santa Ana, famous as the birthplace of Honk, so the ol’ gent focused on that fine town and contacted Paul Eakins, its spokesman.
Honk learned that the traffic lights are still synchronized during the day on Santa Ana’s busier streets, even while the pandemic has left many vehicles parked instead of commuting and running errands. But the city has altered the pattern a bit.
With the lighter traffic during the coronavirus pandemic, the green, yellow and red lights are running throughout the day with the same pattern normally used at lunchtime. The greens on major streets come and go quicker so the waits on cross-streets are shorter than usual in the mornings and evenings, Eakins learned from the city’s Public Works Agency.
Seems it should be easier to stay in sync with the greens without any sluggish congestion.
The light traffic, the Public Works guru told Eakins, gives the perception that the signals aren’t switching as often as they normally do.
Honk was assured the city constantly monitors traffic, to ensure the synchronization pattern being deployed makes sense.
Other cities, including Los Angeles, Irvine, Corona and Riverside, have adjusted their traffic-light patterns in some fashion with less vehicles on the roads.
Q. Dear Honk: I read your article a few weeks ago that listed the Department of Motor Vehicles’s website address and passed it along to my girlfriend and she couldn’t get it to work.
– Terence A Girling, Costa Mesa
A. Finally, after all of these years – a little romance in Honk, with Terence aiming to help out his better half.
Terence shared with Honk the address he passed along, and it was real close. But you have to be terribly careful, because there are web pages with nearly the same address trying to lure your business.
The correct one: dmv.ca.gov.
If you forget, just look at your license plate or your neighbor’s – the standard-issue plate lists the web address right there at the bottom, although it is oftentimes hidden by the bracket.
Honkin’ fact: By our standards, gas is inexpensive right now, making it a good time to cruise Pacific Coast Highway to peer out at the magnificent ocean or to take some other scenic route to clear your head of this quarantine stuff for a bit.
This past Monday, a gallon of regular unleaded cost on average $2.65 in the state, according to the California Energy Commission’s weekly survey. Here is a look at the past for this time of year:
2015: $3.73
2010: $3.14
2005: $2.52
2000: $1.66
To ask Honk questions, reach him at honk@ocregister.com. He only answers those that are published. To see Honk online: ocregister.com/tag/honk.