Electro-matic Control for Piccadilly
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LAST Monday the Minister of Transportport put into operation a new Electro-matic traffic-control system for Piccadilly Circus and its vicinity. Before doing so the Minister mentioned that at the most recent traffic census it was shown that in Piccadilly sometimes over 48,000 vehicles passed between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. It was really the hub of London,
Thirty-three of these light systems have now been installed in London, including those at Trafalgar Square and Hyde Park Corner, At Piccadilly Circus the problems were considerable, as nine streets enter it, four being main routes, whilst the flow of traffic is completely uneven, requiring a robot brain for its control. The idea of the system is that impulses from the various routes are transmitted to the central control in such a manner that the periodicity of the lights throughout the system is adapted to meet the traffic conditions, and there should now be less " stop and more " go." The system has been devised by the Automatic Telephone and Electric Co., Ltd., Melbourne House, Aldwych, London, W.C.2, and has been tried out in many parts of the country, there being more than 1,000 installations in Great Britain and exports to some 12 countries overseas.
A study of traffic following the inauguration of the system showed that it was flowing freely without signs of congestion, although fairly heavy.