Traffic light count downs

Now that I live in Taipei, I have a better internet connection than I had in the dorm in Tainan. With the better connection it is possible to upload movies. I should be taking more movies. So here we go.

Almost all the stop lights in Taipei have count down counters on the green light for pedestrians. This is good, because you have an idea of whether you can make it across safely or how long you will have to wait for the green going perpendicular. The counters are set up to keep the traffic moving so the timers are longer for pedestrian walking with the major flow and shorter for walking perpendicular to the major flow. The difference can be a factor of three.

I use to think the count down timers were limited by the 2 digit display to have a maximum of 99 seconds for with flow pedestrians but I was wrong as this video shows. As you can see the pedestrians have the moving walking-icon before the countdown counter starts at 99.

You rarely see a yellow traffic light in Taipei, although every traffic light has the three lights: green, yellow, red. Even in the US, everyone has their own definition about what a yellow traffic light means. What usually happens in Taipei, is that between red light changing to green there is at least a ten second period when both traffic flows see a red light. Supposedly this lets the old red light traffic complete before the new green light traffic begins. But of course everyone knows this, so there is both cheating on both sides. Just be care out there.