It’s no secret that Los Angeles has a major traffic problem. The heavy traffic can cripple commerce and quality of life, so the city has been actively looking for solutions to combat it. Things like car pool and toll lanes are supposed to help, but traffic is still a problem.
Their newest attempt at the solution is something that no other major city has done. They’ve synchronized 4,500 traffic signals across 469 square miles. This means than you could theoretically drive across the city without ever hitting a red light.
This has reduced the average time it takes to drive across the city from 20 to 17 minutes. However, some economists are warning that it might have a counterproductive effect: If it’s more efficient to drive, more people might take their car out that otherwise wouldn’t have.