TRAFFIC CONTROL.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 56, 7 March 1932, Page 2

TRAFFIC CONTROL.

MERIT OF AUTOMATIC RCAJj,: SUCCESS IN CHRISTCHURCH. Although the Auckland City Council has tried out automatic traffic control at two busy city intersections, and abandoned, it on the plea that there was no justification for spending large sums on automatic signals, the Christchurch City Council is well satisfied with ite 0 system at the intersection of Cashel and 5 Colombo Streets, which has been in ' operation for almost eighteen months (states the "Christchurch Times"). s The system has more than proved its usefulness, for it relieves two traffic in- '_ spectors and has nearly paid for itself , in that way. Although the system has s been in operation for almost a year and a half, the installation is only a tern- . porary one, and it is the council's inten- : tion, when finance permits, to make it permanent, and lower the signals eo the lights will be more visible to pedestrians. Visitors to Christchurch speak highly of the working of the automatic sys.- - / tem and the arrangements made for - pedestrians. The amber warning light ■ for pedestrians flashes for a longer : period than in any other city in the 1 world. When the signals were first installed pedestrians took some time to I, become educated to the procedure, but t now everything works smoothly. In Auckland the council of the Auto- ' ■_ mobile Association has forwarded a reso--1 lution to i'.e City Council, stating that "stop" and "go" signals are not suitable for Auckland. Mr. Macintosh, chief traffic inspector for the Christchurch City Council, remarked to a reporter that it was quite evident that Auckland motorists did not want the automatic signals at all, but favoured the traffic officer, whose direction wae almost, perfect. He could not see why the Auckland City Council were quibbling at the expense, when the experience of Christchurch showed that the system was an r economical proposition.