Annals of Motordom – 64: Road diet in Florida, Shanghai car costs, synchronized signals

An occasional update on items from Motordom – the world of auto dominance

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FROM SIX TO TWO
Lanes, that is.

Years ago this Sarasota FL corridor was planned to be widened to six lanes, then downsized to four lanes. Now today, realizing widening not the answer, it is a two-lane successful multimodal corridor that manages intersections with modern roundabouts.

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If it can happen in Florida …

The prices paid at Shanghai’s license auctions in recent months—90,000 yuan ($14,530)—have exceeded the cost of many entry-level cars, the stronghold of Chinese brands such as Chery, Geely, and Great Wall. While residents with modest incomes may be able to afford an inexpensive car, the registration cost is often beyond their reach. “Whenever there’s a restriction of new car purchases through the quota system, there is always a big impact on lower-price cars like the ones we make,” says Lawrence Ang, executive director of Geely Automobile Holdings (175), whose Panda minicar sells for 37,800 yuan.

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EVERY TRAFFIC SIGNAL IN L.A.
… will be synchronized.  From the New York Times:

Los Angeles has synchronized every one of its 4,500 traffic signals across 469 square miles — the first major metropolis in the world to do so, officials said — raising the almost fantastical prospect, in theory, of driving Western Avenue from the Hollywood Hills to the San Pedro waterfront without stopping once.
But with the number of cars on the road here continuing to rise (and almost seven million commuters already on the road each day during the rush in the metro area), even the system’s boosters admit that it may not be enough to prevent gridlock from growing worse.