Traffic Management Mediocrity

I have always been extremely frustrated by the traffic lights in my metro area of Kansas City. Often times, the only way to make a light is to speed... excessively. The system here seems to be timed specifically to stop traffic at virtually every intersection. (I'll need to post a video soon so that you can see exactly what I mean.)

Not only is it virtually impossible to go from one major intersection to the next and make the light, but it's also rare that you'll make it through a minor cross street on your way.

I've come to the conclusion that the traffic engineers in this area are satisfied with simple traffic management as opposed to traffic optimization.

There are so many simple ways to improve traffic flow. Unfortunately, in the Kansas City area we've settled for mediocrity.

And this made me angry long before gas was $4 a gallon.