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2016
103

When traffic light management prefigures mobility choices. The strategic challenges of a technical tool

Notes de la rédaction

This is the press release related to the article from Céline Brandeleer et Thomas Ermans, published on September 19, 2016. Read the article.

There is nothing more ordinary than traffic lights in an urban landscape. Yet they are a true urban challenge: green, yellow and red lights have a strong impact on the use of space and therefore on the role of cars and public transport in particular.

Regularity and speed constitute a major challenge for STIB. Various measures are aimed at increasing the average speed of surface vehicles. These solutions involve measures related to infrastructure (separate lanes for certain sections of tram and bus lines) and behaviour (obliging other users – mainly motorists – to respect public transport sites and stops via tickets). The third approach lies in a time-based distribution of the use of the road space in favour of public transport through the management of traffic light cycles. In order to understand this third approach, we must open the black box of the remote controlled traffic light system used by buses and trams in Brussels.

The objective of the 103rd issue of Brussels Studies is to make sense of this technical device, as well as to highlight the underlying “political” challenges. At the heart of discussions on remote controlled traffic lights is of course the question of the respective role of public transport and cars (as well as walking and cycling) in the context of widespread road congestion. The researchers' approach also emphasises the relatively invisible work of the administration (Bruxelles Mobilité) in its capacity to create compromises – with their advantages and disadvantages – so that a project is able to function within the complex Brussels “ecosystem”. The complementary perspectives of political scientist Céline Brandeleer and geographer Thomas Ermans – who work for the Observatoire de la mobilité de la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale in the Centre d’Études sociologiques at Université Saint-Louis – are particularly pertinent and enlightening.

Their analysis shows that the remote controlled traffic light system has led to an increase in commercial speed for certain lines which are relatively well protected (trams 3, 4, 7, 25), but that it is ineffective for others (line 71) and lacks efficiency as a global solution. While remote controlled traffic lights are intended to be a global facilitator of public transport traffic in the Brussels Region, almost all of the traffic lights in the Region need to be equipped and operational. But even in such ideal conditions in terms of equipment, the congestion of the surface road network sometimes reaches levels which make the use of the system counterproductive. The aim to reduce car traffic overall therefore proves to be absolutely necessary.

Remote controlled traffic lights are often presented as an innovative technical device which reconciles high commercial speed for public transport and improvement of car traffic flow – a “win-win” solution. In practice, the main technical challenges were resolved relatively quickly, but as soon as the implementation involves a more direct interaction with the many stakeholders in Brussels, it becomes more laborious. Each redevelopment of the public space is the object of negotiations as part of permit procedures (in particular for the installation of stops after the traffic lights), which has the effect of postponing the programming of traffic lights. The takeover by the Region of the management of certain traffic lights managed by the municipalities is similar in some cases to a loss of control of the public space and continues, as such, to lead to resistance. And while the system is operational from a technical point of view, the programming of traffic light phases – which represents the arbitration between modes of travel – continues to be discussed case by case and crossroads by crossroads, between STIB and the Region, and even with certain municipalities.

The search for a compromise favours solutions other than the technical and economic optimum. The effectiveness of the system still seems to be determined by the preservation of the capacity for cars on the roads, with the administration respecting the political guidelines which advocate a remote controlled traffic light system “in the limits of what is acceptable” for public transport without being against the use of cars. According to the authors, the remote controlled traffic light system appears to be part of a process of “small steps” rather than a clear political commitment in favour of public transport, which involves reducing the influence of cars in the public space.

This study is explored in depth in Cahier 5 of the Observatoire de la mobilité de la Région de Bruxelles-Mobilité dedicated to the “Partage de l’espace public en Région de Bruxelles-Capitale” (sharing of the public space in the Brussels-Capital Region), which will be published on 18 October on the occasion of a workshop and a presentation organised by Bruxelles Mobilité in collaboration with ]Pyblik[.

References
Brandeleer, Céline and Ermans, Thomas, “When traffic light management prefigures mobility choices: the strategic challenges of a technical tool”, Brussels Studies [Online], General collection, No 103, 19 September 2016. URL: https://journals.openedition.org/brussels/1377
Contact
Benjamin Wayens, Senior Editor: bwayens[at]brusselsstudies.be

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