Pitch
My idea in a nutshell is to update our traffic light systems to reduce the time people sit in traffic or at a red light.
Description
Summary
It's so crazy it just might work...My idea is to globally update the traffic light systems to allow people to make it to there destinations faster which would obviously reduce the amount of carbon dioxide we pump into our fragile atmosphere. Plus, no more being stuck at red lights for no reason!
Category of the action
Building efficiency: Physical Action
What actions do you propose?
The first action I propose would be a piece of federal legislation requiring all states within the continental U.S. to require these updates to the traffic grid.
Who will take these actions?
The people themselves are going to have to push for this change and hopefully the government will hear our cries and get on board.
Where will these actions be taken?
First it should happen in the Northern America and then hopefully this idea would spread like a virus throughout the planet.
How much will emissions be reduced or sequestered vs. business as usual levels?
I'm not exactly sure since I was unable to find any scientific papers addressing this exact proposal but I feel it is safe to say we could reduce emissions as much as 50% for each car-owning individual on the planet.
What are other key benefits?
Well obviously reducing emission is our number one goal but through this proposal we also cut down the time people sit at red lights which could easily help reduce cases of "road rage"! Win win!!!
What are the proposal’s costs?
We could easily use the existing infrastructure so pretty much it is a matter of updating the software/hardware which should make this a very cheap system update that could have huge positive effects.
Time line
We could start this as soon as the legislature is in place so probably 3-5 years total.