A key feature of the new $207m Central Motorway Junction are the ramp lights which help phase traffic from the on ramps onto the motorways.  What a shame then that Transit have switched them off until January 8th, saying that that not enough operators have been rostered over the holidays to monitor the new signals.

I have two questions:

1. $207 million and we have signals that need humans to monitor them?
2. Not enough staff rostered? 

and two comments:

1. I understand the need for folks to watch CCTV feeds and phase things accordingly in the past but in the age of advanced modeling and intelligent transport systems, this is the best we can do?
2. Back in mid-December, the Transit big cheese Rick van Barnveld said that the “Christmas period is a crucial time [for the implementation of this scheme] when we don’t have peak traffic flows” and pleaded for Aucklanders to work with them.  It’s a shame his HR and Operations managers weren’t listening.

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