I don't know why an 18 minute video about traffic lights in Victoria got recommended to me, but you've clearly put a lot of research into this so I'm gonna watch it
@@sbmetro165Same here... The presentation kept me watching. You did really well with the narration, I'll subscribe and check out what else you choose to cover.
40 years working at VicRoads and its variants, 25 years in signals... and I learnt more about the signal hardware history in this video than during all my time designing their operation. Mighty good job... 👍
The first time I really noticed and started to care about traffic lights was when my favourite set was replaced with LEDs a number of years ago. I didn't even realise I had a favourite set until it happened. It was the crossing at a school in Ballarat, and the green light on one of the sets had a particular depth to it which I loved, it looked really dark except for a highlight in the middle which I'd never seen on any other lamp. It probably wasn't very practical for drivers but I loved it, it reminded me of a jewel, and I have memories of seeing it as a child as it always marked that we were almost home after going away on holidays. I felt a particular twinge of sadness when one day it was gone, replaced by those terrible LED lights with the multiple diodes. I always note and appreciate a set of incandescent lights as a result. Excellent video, friend!
I’m glad you enjoyed the video! It’s a shame I haven’t been interested in traffic lights long enough to where I notice them being replaced, but I like going to my childhood locations in old streetview to check out what used to be there. I’m lucky most of the ones near my house are still original! Also if you ever want to see some older lights in Ballarat there are some on the intersection of Sturt and Dawson St!
On a flight back to Victoria I sat next to a guy who was incharge of all traffic lights. It was interesting to find out the money being saved by changing to LEDs. He also mentioned the heating elements put into road bridges to stop black ice. They also have monitors aimed at the surface to sample temperatures. Interesting video well done.
Yes. We have those temperature gauges for black ice on the Calder freeway round Gisbourne, Woodend, Harcourt. And also near me on the Midland highway outside Daylesford. They are connected to lights that will flash when temperatures drop below a certain temperature (2 or 3 degrees).
Good work, I don’t think anyone has ever gone this far in-depth to Australian traffic light history. Hopefully it will act as a good resource and if anyone has more info regarding lesser-known companies they may come forward.
I’ve lived in Melbourne my whole life (42 years) and never had even thought about traffic lights having different variants. As with a few other people I’ve got no idea how this was recommended to me. You’ve obviously done a lot of research and presented it well as I watched it right through.
Great video! I've been driving since 1981, and have noticed a few changes: The backboards were not that common. Never knew why the sequence was changed from Red, Red/Amber, then Green, to Red straight to Green. Arrows were not very common back then. Seems most intersections have them now. Some of the newer motorists don't seem to know what to do, when faced with a right hand turn at a non-arrow eqiupped intersection.
It isn't helped by the fact that it's not something included in learner tests, at least in Victoria. So if the instructor doesn't personally think of it then the learner never will
Driven past the yellow light on Princess Street loads of times, never noticed it before. After watching this, I cannot unsee it! Thanks for pointing this one out!
1:44 The Marshalite signals were absolutely brilliant, I had the pleasure of meeting the Son of the inventor, and no they didn’t cause a spate of accidents, the opposite was actually true. Not saying that there wasn’t the odd “time trial” from the local hot rod crew. Unfortunately, they were unable to adapt to the traffic conditions, and changing the cycles also required new clock faces
I suspect that you are right. I doubt they would have been any more confusing then any other new system. I would suggest that until people became used to the idea of the 3 lights the Marshalite signals would be more intuitive. of cause once traffic light became popular the next time they wanted to change the signal arrangement they, it would make more sense to change to lights
Thank you for this video on the vintage traffic lights across Melbourne and Victoria. Wish that we kept a few more over the years. Actually, I prefer older traffic lights (70s/80s/90s) than the modern ones. Today, we have far too many traffic lights across town, imo double the traffic lights we had 20 years ago; and they are smaller than what they used to be. I don't have a problem with the LED lights just more concerned with the size of the boards that they are on. If memory serves me correctly, there are some black and white pictures near the elevators at Geelong Plaza with the street scene around the plaza years ago with the older lights of the time. Growing up in the north east I'm happy that the unique lights at Greensborough mostly have stood the test of time, presumably the ones at Grimshaw St & The Circuit. I remember those from my childhood. Like you, as I go thru life I keep my eyes on the look out for new and old traffic lights and appreciate the old ones before they are all gone!
You just got me to click on this video, watch it all the way through, and now I'm invested in traffic light variants. Great stuff, keep up the good work!
I remember that the Nepean Hwy CLOCK TYPE Lights were still working in the late 1960s. Drivers liked them because you could see 👀 how long before the Lights were going to turn/change. Wish they still used them. It might avoid so many Accidents.
@@MelodyMan69 ooh yeah never really thought about that. Would love some sort of timer to see when to go. I just study the traffic light pattern usually.
Hey MelodyMan69, in the UK when red traffic lights are about change to green the amber light comes on warning drivers the lights are about to change, a better way for drivers when driving, here in Adelaide, many drivers when waiting at red traffic lights will daydream/zone out etc and when lights change they are delayed in taking off.
We had some of those in Lilydale (suburb of Melbourne)... They were fitted to a pedestrian crossing. Would light up with the amber before green, but it's been a long time since I've been through that area and had to stop at them to see if they have been updated.
@@Cameron_Bell The red + amber "get ready" is the standard basically everywhere in Europe, possibly because manual transmissions are still the norm there. Therefore you need a little bit of extra time to shift from neutral to first before you can get going. Even more in the UK where you're also supposed to have the handbrake on when stopped (this is not taught in mainland Europe AFAIK). But manual or not, I really wish Australia implemented it too because as you said, some drivers take a few seconds to get going even with an automatic. My interpretation as to why is less charitable: they're playing with their phone. Then on the other end of the spectrum you have the "creepers" who try to guess when the light is about to go green, creeping forward by half a metre every time they think the light's about to change. By the time it finally does, they're already well into to the intersection. It is also useful in case you are approaching a red light. If it changes to red + amber while you are still far away, you may judge that you don't need to brake, or at least not as much.
Wow I learned a lot from this! I live near a set of incandescent lights on a pedestrian crossing, I'm not too sure if they're Altridge or AWA but I always love seeing them! One of the signals have been replaced with an LED sadly, but the other 3 are still standing! It's at Old South Rd, Old Reynella, SA.
@@RailsOfTheSouth ooh nice I’ve actually been to that pedestrian crossing, they have super rare Siemens lights which are only found in South Australia! I’m glad you enjoyed the video!
I am glad you mentioned Parrco as I used to work for them in the early 80s , During my time there we made ticket machines for parking etc... I have seen all the patterns for the old foundry castings... The factory was in Brunswick.
The 300mm signals used to be the primary lanterns, with the smaller 200mm lanterns being used for secondary signals. Some intersections did not follow the rule, but in the 70’s that was the style.
Was not expecting to watch a video about traffic lights, let alone see footage of Sale! Thanks for the recommendation RUclips. Great video! It was fascinating learning about such a overlooked part of history.
Never thought i would be so engrossed in something that i always get stopped at, your research and travels around the place to get your footage must have been time consuming and very rewarding. Terrific video and very well presented, well done
@@steveweatherly1965 Thanks for watching I really appreciate it! Yes definitely very awarding and it was awesome going to all of the traffic lights in person to see them
I'll confess that I never really had any interest in traffic lights beyond that they exist and performed a function. You have certainly opened my eyes as to how this necessary infrastructure has changed and evolved over the years & I now regard them in a different light (to use a bad pun). Congrats on a well-researched & put together video, you are obviously very passionate & it shows. Cheers mate.
Great video! Living in NSW and having only started to be interested in traffic lights, road signs etc for the last few years, I've always enjoyed visiting Melbourne because of your wide variety of lights.
What a strangely interesting video. Thanks for all your research and effort. There was a set of Marshallite traffic signals at the intersection of Gaffney and Cumberland roads Pascoe Vale in the late 60's. I crossed this intersection going to school many times and they left a lasting memory.
I’m glad you liked it! Yeah I actually used a pic of that intersection in the video, I didn’t label the location though but if you look close enough you can see the road sign
Very interesting video mate!! I visited Melbourne not long ago and as a Sydneysider it immediately struck me the amount of halogen traffic lights still in use. I did not know the first traffic lights used to look like clocks 😳
Cool. I’ve made a few of these observations over the years in Melbourne, but you have helped me understand a lot more. I drive past a few of these regularly in Camberwell, Kew and Hawthorn. Thanks !
16:20 - That 1 in South Melbourne on City Road (where it says No Idea) brings back fond memories. My grandparents used to own the factory on that corner of city road and I recall using those lights many times as a kid in the 80s/90s and those unique crossing buttons. I am somewhat happy to still see them there.
Also I'm surprised to see how many intersections I recognise here. Especially the Woori Yallock 1 :). I must know Melbourne/Victoria better than I thought!
Very well done I learned a hell of a lot watching this video. When I was young in the mid to late 90's driving around Melb and seeing a lot of the older style traffic lights [yellow painted black] that still had the Walk/Don't Walk signals, sadly they've all seemed to disappear these days but there's still one older traffic light I regularly see at the corner of Blackburn & Whitehorse road, I think its a AWA light you can see chips of the old yellow paint. I better look up your interesting vintage traffic light map to check out other fascinating older lights, thanks very much once again!
Fascinating and informative video. Well done guys. As a Melbourne local its interesting to know just how many different types and such there are about the place (eg i go through the ones at Woori Yallock pretty regularly).
There's one other set still with yellow traffic lights over than the one mentioned at Kew. There's a pedestrian set on Raleigh St in Westmeadows where the overhead ones haven't been painted black. However the target boards have fallen off in recent years.
There used to be a set of lights at the intersection of Rosamond Road and Mitchell Street in Maidstone that was the only set I ever saw in Melbourne that showed red and amber together just prior to turning green (as is the standard in the UK). This was some years ago as they no longer are programmed to do this. Also if you check out Wellington Street in Collingwood there is a set of pedestrian wigwams that have backlit signs. These are the only ones I have seen in Melbourne.
This is the video that I didn't know I needed! Going interstate I always wondered why our traffic lights were so unique. How long did it take to research, and how on earth did you find real life examples when there are so few remaining for most of them? Also, what about tram T lights and point signals?
@@MaxProduction16 I’m glad you enjoyed the video! The research part did not take too long a lot of general research was done by my friend Redhen334 (in the description) and I compiled it all, so most credit to him although I did do a lot of research on earlier stuff. I’d say overall it took a week or two to get to the stage of filming. I’ve definitely racked up thousands of hours on google maps and I started a map of older traffic lights a few years ago. So it definitely took ages to find a lot of the examples! But there are still some I’ve missed which have been shared by other people. But most of the locations I scouted myself. There is also a dataset by the Victorian government. Showing the location of every traffic light in the state, although I didn’t use this too much. The tram traffic lights are mostly the same brand as usual lights such as Aldridge, however for points signals they also sometimes use their own special brand called Elektroline (I think it’s something like that), so yeah!
The intersection at the corner of the Blackburn North shopping centre also used to have Eagle Signal lights but they were all replaced with modern LED ones in 2015-2017 by what I remember! :)
I didn’t know that Keysborough still had the old pedestrian crossing signal buttons 😮 how many times I have driven past here and I never would’ve known. I used to live in this suburb and work in Braeside which is further up Cheltenham Road lol 😜 small world
Thank you. This was fascinating. I have the same obsession with street blades / road signs. Hoping someone might do a similar video like this on that category! Cheers.
good job buddy Love history around melbourne never thought I would learn so much about traffic lights i will now not look at them in the same way :) I had to laugh when you mentioned the button press to cross the road....My brother and me use to always fight over who was going to press it when we were young loved to see it light up fun times lol
In my lifetime the marshalite lights always used a relay to actual lights. This gave the absolute "the light is now red" attribute. The HUGE advantage is that you know that a light is ABOUT to change so you never have that "can I brake or not" moment. As long as people didn't try to go before the green they increased the flow in vehicles per hour. The primary disadvantage is that the proportion of red to green could not be altered at different times of day. In Geelong they used the multiple coloured bars. Something that has been reintroduced in China recently. For the same reason as the Marshalite lights. It increases the capacity of the road. It shows a "count down" as the light phase time increases. i.e. you get a warning that the lights will change soon.
fellow traffic light lover!!! Thoroughly enjoyed your video. Here in the UK, the most popular from the 70s to the 90s were the iconic 'Mellor' style made by Plessey, PAGE, and some super duper rare PEEK Mellor signals. They were widely replaced by more modular and easier to maintain Microsense and Siemens newer designs. There's still a fair few old Mellors knocking about, especially around Liverpool, Oxford, London areas but I believe the bulbs they use have been out of production for a good while now so they're quickly being replaced which is kind of sad really, but LEDs are obviously a lot more reliable; nowadays they're still made by PEEK and Siemens
@@lerelo I’m glad you enjoyed! I definitely want to go to the UK sometime for the trains as well as the traffic lights! Thanks for the info too I’ll probably have a look at some photos
I recall, just and vaguely the traffic lights in Geelong. Maloop street had a centre fixture like a war memorial style. On each of the four faces it had the three colours Red, Yellow and green but each colour was made up of horizontal neon tubes. The number of tubes lit was proportional to the time remaining, so it started with all the tubes lit, as time passed one tube would be switched off until no more remained. Then the next colour would be lit up. As an 8 year old i was fascinated by then and would insist we would go around the block to see them again.
"Traffic lights are probably something most people don't pay attention to..." I sure hope they do, lol! They're certainly not there to be ignored :P. (great video, btw! Just a funny first line)
In my lifetime (70 + years) the 'clock face' when used at intersections were used in conjunction with lights. They were GREAT. You could adjust your speed to 'catch the green'. They were removed because, unfortunately, too many people INCREASED their speed to 'beat the red' - with resultant collisions.
I remember the clock faces on the road down to Frankston. The single hand slowly moved clockwise thru the green, amber and red clock face colours. When the hand passed into red, you stopped. Green go.
Very informative video! I can see there has been a lot of effort and dedication put into this video! Would you ever consider doing a history and guide to street lights in victoria? I know it may not really be your thing but there are so many different ones out there like there are traffic lights and would be interesting to know the history.
It may be old info but for a while the Marshalite signals in Chelsea were driving a pedestrian crossing across Nepean Highway - connected to more modern three-color heads. They would have been operating into the early 80s if my memory serves me right - just long enough for me to personally have to stop my car at them. There are some old incandescent heads at the corner of Burwood Hwy and Glenfern rd. They are visible on google maps, and were still there as of my last trip down that road within the last month. Around 1984-1986, a Mentone company called Dyco Products used to make and sell portable traffic lights for use during roadworks. Second hand heads were purchased and modified to use 12 lamps. The heads used were 8 inch, but they also ended up with a few 12 inch heads that were broken up, then turned into a 4x4 light display that was running patterns as an attention grab for exhibitions.
South Australia had plenty of Eagle signals up to the mid 2000s. They were yellow/black together and had combinations of 8-inch with 12-inch on the side. There were also 2-segment 'Turn Left/Right With Care', 'No Left/Right Turn' and even 'Tram Only' signals. Pedestrian signals had worded lenses too. The last remaining ones were in use on Valetta Road in Kidman Park, Jetty Street in Grange and Winston Avenue/Edward Street intersection in Melrose Park up to the mid/late 2010s. I managed to obtain one in 2012 and repainted it to how it looked in the 1970s!
I remember seeing this short docu-info package at spotswood's interactive museum and it remember it talking bout VicRoads SCATS system or something to that effect, the magnetic sensor loops embedded in the asphalt and the automatic adjustment of timing to accommodate peak hour traffic. This was back in 1994 maybe? World leading.
I remember as a kid seeing the old clock style traffic lights on the Nepean highway when we went on family trips to Mornington. I always thought that most of the LED traffic lights were retrofitted LED assemblies the replaced the old tungsten/halogen reflector and lens assemblies. What reinforced that in my mind was after traffic lights were upgraded to LED I swear that there a split second on no lights being on as the reaction time in switching them as LEDs react instantly where as halogen has a reaction time. I would presume that around this time the control electronics would of changed from relay based to networked microprocessor controlled units that replayed relays with mosfets ( or some other electronic component ) Anyway great video …
I should add I pass two ‘give way to pedestrians’ lights on my way to work on traffic light turns (ones a t-intersection and the other is kind of one in that straight ahead is a dead end so 90% of the traffic will turn left or right). One on the corner of Glenhuntly Road and Orrong Road, Elsternwick. And another in Monash on corner of Blackburn Road and Normanby Road.
I like the pedestrian button that is non contact. Seen in Edinburgh you place your hand under the control it activates the walk , don't walk. Non contact for germs.
Early AWA signals were basically the British ATE "tin lanterns" which were seen in a fair few countries, including France, Belgium, Norway, Ireland and Switzerland.
yo anyone here after watching 3 hours of videos about trains(including a video about train traffic lights obviously), followed by 2 hours of ferry's , now this pop's up? heck yes!
Around the early 90's AWA was contracted by the city of Bandung to install traffic lights and SCATS control system, the lights still exist but the original controllers are replaced around late-2010s. Some intersections get completely replaced, some are also abandoned, most lights are retrofitted with LED too. They used to come with PB/5 buttons but they didn't last.
I remember the Marshal clock traffic lights as a kid in the ‘60s. There were also normal traffic lights that operated with them. They would be stationary until you pressed a button. If you pressed it too quickly, the hands would start slightly then stop. Eventually the hands were vandalizef and the clocks were removed and reinstated many years later.
Awesome video! I’m a recent addition to Melbourne and I have noticed a variety of signals here, so good to have a comprehensive explanation. One thing I also remember is that signals in Victoria used to have a red-yellow phase before the light turned green, like they have in the UK. It seems to be before my time but my friend and I did find one light that did this on a visit in 2006. Do you know if this was widespread and/or when they stopped this phasing?
I think the oldest ones are at the Kew traffic school. There were some very old ones in the Docklands from America before it was all developed and the Railways had some too in their yards for cars and trucks.
Really interesting video! And i never thought I'd say that about traffic lights! What I'd like to know is why some jurisdictions (VIC, SA, NT) have all black traffic light backboards. Yet other jurisdictions (QLD, NSW, WA, TAS, ACT, & NZ, Fiji) have a white line around the perimeter of the backboards?
I'm glad you enjoyed, I really appreciate it. Yeah about the backboards somebody asked that too, I may need to look into it as I am not too sure myself. One interesting thing though is that in Adelaide the traffic lights there have the white borders, which is odd. And in Melbourne outside of Southern Cross Station on Collins Street, one of the pedestrian crossings has a traffic light with the white border. Definitely something I need to look into!
@@sbmetro165 Interesting as a Victorian I've driven through SA plenty of times and only ever spotted one traffic light with the white line on the backboard and that was in Adelaide CBD. The rest of metro Adelaide had the Victorian style all-black backboards. Yet the only time I've ever seen the traffic lights with the white line backboard in Victoria is on those temporary road-works traffic lights
This video appears to focus on the actual traffic light fittings rather than the operational functions of the system , such as coordination and timing . My experience with driving on Melbourne's roads was of extreme frustration with the absolutely atrocious coordination of the signals , and constantly being stopped by nearly every red light . Is this poor management or are traffic lights being deliberately set this way in an attempt at traffic calming ? The worst , most frustrating trip was along White Horse Road towards Ringwood from the west - every single red light ! The last time I visited Melbourne was in 2003 , so hopefully this situation has improved since then . Interestingly , I didn't notice many red lights in this video , with most displaying green ! The phasing of traffic signals in Sydney can be far from perfect , but at least it is reasonable , whereas the best experience with traffic lights was in Adelaide , also in 2003 . Regarding the signal manufacturers , I believe that Philips was/is a key player in Sydney . PS : Thanks for the accolade , however this was inadvertently removed when I edited out mistakes after reading my comment again .
Wonderful video…really enjoyed it ! Just one thing…what about the old WALK/DONT WALK pedestrian lights that were used in Melbourne for decades before they were replaced by the red/ green standing/walking man pedestrian lights. I think they began replacing them in the early 90s (????). I would love to see them make a comeback…I think the words had more impact than the pictures. What do you think?
Oh yes that is one thing I forgot to talk about. I feel like they would be pretty useful if they still existed but I guess there’s probably niche reasons they got rid of them like what if you couldn’t read English? Yeah there were a few around until the early 2010s
I remember seeing the older square crossing buttons everywhere when I first moved to Canberra in 2001 - I'm pretty sure they were retrofitted with speakers too - though they all disappeared (along with the very square pedestrian lights that still said Don't Walk/Walk) along with the other incandescent lights. They were cool because they had the light on them that the PB/5s didn't have (outside VIC). I like how Victorian PB/5s have the light, and I don't understand why it wasn't adopted elsewhere.
I will be watching on my next walk - Now what about a video on the speed cameras that get you when you go through traffic lights when red or go through too fast! I went to court to escape a $300 fine for doing 60 kmh when a barely visible sign said the limit was 40 kmh. I won - much to my amazement.
oh thank god we are moving to an led behind an diffuser. For some daft reason they stated making the ones with several LED's around the brightness of headlights.
I'm surprised no mention of traffic light sequence was mentioned. It was something that was always noticeable about Victoria compared to NSW. The sequencing (red+amber before going green) disappeared sometime in the late 80s and early 90's. There was also a variety of traffic light road sensors. Induction loops being the most common and still used today but there were other types like a rubber strip pressure sensor built into the road on each lane. They appeared to get damaged and by the 80's they were just abandoned relics left in the road. Some other style of lights were used in NSW, and I particularly remember a very old set at the corner of Church and Phillip Streets in Parramatta NSW that were in use into the late 90s. They were similar to old style UK traffic lights each light being it's own module. They were originally painted black and white but later were painted all yellow like Victorian lights in the 70s. There were also some weird road markings that were associated with traffic lights that have now long since vanished. Pedestrian lanes were one of them. There was also a secondary set of pedestrian indicators that signaled to pedestrians wanting to cross he road without having to cross at the intersection corners. I don't remember them being red or green, just large with worded indicators that lit up when the pedestrian indicator was green.
@@trash0 Yeah I was mainly discussing the different types of lights but the sequence is definitely something I’ve noticed! Unfortunately all the places I remember the old sequence at have mostly been updated although are are probably still a few around. And sensors I haven’t looked into but I might start looking out for them now. Thanks for the info!
Kew and Camberwell junctions have always been a testing ground for new lighting tech. For memory, the first touchless sensor pedestrian buttons were tested in Camberwell as a trial around 2012ish before being installed in a few other places. You could have also mentioned the light up tactile pavers that are linked to the pedestrian signals on a few of the "little streets and lanes" in the cbd, really neat, especially for people just looking at their phones the entire time 😂
touchless sensor pedestrian buttons were a lot earlier then that, i think early 2000's at prospect rd and Burke is where i first noticed them, I will have to check if they are still there.
Late 90’s had the first LED and touch less ped buttons in Camberwell. The controllers were too slow changing, and the leds/boards would fail in the new LED globes. You can tell as they have the clear lenses.
My first factory was next door to L&M Traffic Signal, in Croydon, they gave me a bunch of old 8” incandescent heads to install at the Alexandra racetrack, it was a mix of brands, I really wanted a set of the 12” heads for home, but they were ratting them for spare parts. L&M got bought out by Tyco for their licensing and contracts 😢
Tyco has discrete LED types too, but they have a more difffuse lens in front of them compared to the ATS to spread the light more. They are very common.
This is peak traffic light nerdism. 😅 I mentioned it to my Dad and he mentioned the first traffic lights in Geelong that were strung over a particular intersection, but they would have long since been replaced. I didn't notice anything like them in this video, so I suppose this will be an irresistible challenge to document the oldest traffic lights that will only exist in historic photographs.
@@iangreen180 Ooh yes a few people have mentioned this, there are a few photos of it that come up on google images! I had no idea about them until people mentioned them here. They look super cool! I’m glad you liked the video
300mm lights were used as primary lights at the stop line anywhere with some exceptions. Today, Victoria doesn’t use 300mm lights, 200mm are the only standard. All 300mm are replaced through upgrades to intersections or faults.
I don't know why an 18 minute video about traffic lights in Victoria got recommended to me, but you've clearly put a lot of research into this so I'm gonna watch it
@@leilawoodford5574 Thanks! Hope you enjoyed!
Oh I know exactly why it got suggested to me 😂 well done mate, subscribed.
@@sbmetro165Same here... The presentation kept me watching. You did really well with the narration, I'll subscribe and check out what else you choose to cover.
40 years working at VicRoads and its variants, 25 years in signals... and I learnt more about the signal hardware history in this video than during all my time designing their operation. Mighty good job... 👍
I’m glad it helped you so much! Thanks for the support
I never thought I would watch a video about the traffic lights in a city I rarely even go to
@@PatSmashYT I’m really glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching!
The first time I really noticed and started to care about traffic lights was when my favourite set was replaced with LEDs a number of years ago. I didn't even realise I had a favourite set until it happened.
It was the crossing at a school in Ballarat, and the green light on one of the sets had a particular depth to it which I loved, it looked really dark except for a highlight in the middle which I'd never seen on any other lamp. It probably wasn't very practical for drivers but I loved it, it reminded me of a jewel, and I have memories of seeing it as a child as it always marked that we were almost home after going away on holidays.
I felt a particular twinge of sadness when one day it was gone, replaced by those terrible LED lights with the multiple diodes. I always note and appreciate a set of incandescent lights as a result.
Excellent video, friend!
I’m glad you enjoyed the video! It’s a shame I haven’t been interested in traffic lights long enough to where I notice them being replaced, but I like going to my childhood locations in old streetview to check out what used to be there. I’m lucky most of the ones near my house are still original!
Also if you ever want to see some older lights in Ballarat there are some on the intersection of Sturt and Dawson St!
@@sbmetro165 I'll have to check them out next time I drive through town!
On a flight back to Victoria I sat next to a guy who was incharge of all traffic lights. It was interesting to find out the money being saved by changing to LEDs. He also mentioned the heating elements put into road bridges to stop black ice. They also have monitors aimed at the surface to sample temperatures. Interesting video well done.
Yes. We have those temperature gauges for black ice on the Calder freeway round Gisbourne, Woodend, Harcourt. And also near me on the Midland highway outside Daylesford. They are connected to lights that will flash when temperatures drop below a certain temperature (2 or 3 degrees).
225 comments on Victoria Traffic lights. As a Victorian that has never seen your channel before and had it recommended, congratulations.
Haha thanks it’s definitely a first for me with any of my videos
@@sbmetro165well you got a subscriber from me out of it.
Good work, I don’t think anyone has ever gone this far in-depth to Australian traffic light history. Hopefully it will act as a good resource and if anyone has more info regarding lesser-known companies they may come forward.
@@redhen334 thanks :)
I remember sometimes kids would put chewing gum in the button recess. Those buttons got pretty gross over time.
I’ve lived in Melbourne my whole life (42 years) and never had even thought about traffic lights having different variants. As with a few other people I’ve got no idea how this was recommended to me. You’ve obviously done a lot of research and presented it well as I watched it right through.
@@martyjohnson3718 I’m glad you enjoyed! Hopefully it’ll be an extra interesting thing to look out for when you’re out everyday!
Great video! I've been driving since 1981, and have noticed a few changes: The backboards were not that common. Never knew why the sequence was changed from Red, Red/Amber, then Green, to Red straight to Green. Arrows were not very common back then. Seems most intersections have them now. Some of the newer motorists don't seem to know what to do, when faced with a right hand turn at a non-arrow eqiupped intersection.
It isn't helped by the fact that it's not something included in learner tests, at least in Victoria. So if the instructor doesn't personally think of it then the learner never will
Driven past the yellow light on Princess Street loads of times, never noticed it before. After watching this, I cannot unsee it! Thanks for pointing this one out!
1:44 The Marshalite signals were absolutely brilliant, I had the pleasure of meeting the Son of the inventor, and no they didn’t cause a spate of accidents, the opposite was actually true.
Not saying that there wasn’t the odd “time trial” from the local hot rod crew.
Unfortunately, they were unable to adapt to the traffic conditions, and changing the cycles also required new clock faces
I suspect that you are right. I doubt they would have been any more confusing then any other new system. I would suggest that until people became used to the idea of the 3 lights the Marshalite signals would be more intuitive. of cause once traffic light became popular the next time they wanted to change the signal arrangement they, it would make more sense to change to lights
Thank you for this video on the vintage traffic lights across Melbourne and Victoria. Wish that we kept a few more over the years. Actually, I prefer older traffic lights (70s/80s/90s) than the modern ones. Today, we have far too many traffic lights across town, imo double the traffic lights we had 20 years ago; and they are smaller than what they used to be. I don't have a problem with the LED lights just more concerned with the size of the boards that they are on.
If memory serves me correctly, there are some black and white pictures near the elevators at Geelong Plaza with the street scene around the plaza years ago with the older lights of the time. Growing up in the north east I'm happy that the unique lights at Greensborough mostly have stood the test of time, presumably the ones at Grimshaw St & The Circuit. I remember those from my childhood.
Like you, as I go thru life I keep my eyes on the look out for new and old traffic lights and appreciate the old ones before they are all gone!
You just got me to click on this video, watch it all the way through, and now I'm invested in traffic light variants. Great stuff, keep up the good work!
Wow, I'd forgotten all about those pedestrian crossings with the little rubber buttons. I can still feel the concentric circles on top of the button.
I remember that the Nepean Hwy CLOCK TYPE Lights were still working in the late 1960s. Drivers liked them because you could see 👀 how long before the Lights were going to turn/change. Wish they still used them. It might avoid so many Accidents.
Overseas I have seen countdown timers alongside normal traffic lights (which I really like), they only exist on pedestrian signals in Australia.
@@MelodyMan69 ooh yeah never really thought about that. Would love some sort of timer to see when to go. I just study the traffic light pattern usually.
Hey MelodyMan69, in the UK when red traffic lights are about change to green the amber light comes on warning drivers the lights are about to change, a better way for drivers when driving, here in Adelaide, many drivers when waiting at red traffic lights will daydream/zone out etc and when lights change they are delayed in taking off.
We had some of those in Lilydale (suburb of Melbourne)... They were fitted to a pedestrian crossing. Would light up with the amber before green, but it's been a long time since I've been through that area and had to stop at them to see if they have been updated.
@@Cameron_Bell The red + amber "get ready" is the standard basically everywhere in Europe, possibly because manual transmissions are still the norm there. Therefore you need a little bit of extra time to shift from neutral to first before you can get going. Even more in the UK where you're also supposed to have the handbrake on when stopped (this is not taught in mainland Europe AFAIK).
But manual or not, I really wish Australia implemented it too because as you said, some drivers take a few seconds to get going even with an automatic. My interpretation as to why is less charitable: they're playing with their phone. Then on the other end of the spectrum you have the "creepers" who try to guess when the light is about to go green, creeping forward by half a metre every time they think the light's about to change. By the time it finally does, they're already well into to the intersection.
It is also useful in case you are approaching a red light. If it changes to red + amber while you are still far away, you may judge that you don't need to brake, or at least not as much.
Simple solution, paint all the new traffic lights and poles to the same vintage yellow as the old ones, that will restore “some” of that old vibe.
The RUclips video essay I didn’t know I needed. Amazing.
I forgot about the button crossing.. thanks for a great video.
Proof that someone, somewhere will make a video about the dullest of dull, congratulations sir, it had to be done.
Amazing video! Very informative!!! Nice to see documentation of traffic lights
Wow I learned a lot from this! I live near a set of incandescent lights on a pedestrian crossing, I'm not too sure if they're Altridge or AWA but I always love seeing them! One of the signals have been replaced with an LED sadly, but the other 3 are still standing! It's at Old South Rd, Old Reynella, SA.
@@RailsOfTheSouth ooh nice I’ve actually been to that pedestrian crossing, they have super rare Siemens lights which are only found in South Australia! I’m glad you enjoyed the video!
@@sbmetro165 No problem! I might have to visit there again and take some new photos!
I am glad you mentioned Parrco as I used to work for them in the early 80s , During my time there we made ticket machines for parking etc... I have seen all the patterns for the old foundry castings... The factory was in Brunswick.
The 300mm signals used to be the primary lanterns, with the smaller 200mm lanterns being used for secondary signals. Some intersections did not follow the rule, but in the 70’s that was the style.
Was not expecting to watch a video about traffic lights, let alone see footage of Sale! Thanks for the recommendation RUclips.
Great video! It was fascinating learning about such a overlooked part of history.
Never thought i would be so engrossed in something that i always get stopped at, your research and travels around the place to get your footage must have been time consuming and very rewarding. Terrific video and very well presented, well done
@@steveweatherly1965 Thanks for watching I really appreciate it! Yes definitely very awarding and it was awesome going to all of the traffic lights in person to see them
I'll confess that I never really had any interest in traffic lights beyond that they exist and performed a function. You have certainly opened my eyes as to how this necessary infrastructure has changed and evolved over the years & I now regard them in a different light (to use a bad pun). Congrats on a well-researched & put together video, you are obviously very passionate & it shows. Cheers mate.
Great video! Living in NSW and having only started to be interested in traffic lights, road signs etc for the last few years, I've always enjoyed visiting Melbourne because of your wide variety of lights.
What a strangely interesting video. Thanks for all your research and effort.
There was a set of Marshallite traffic signals at the intersection of Gaffney and Cumberland roads Pascoe Vale in the late 60's. I crossed this intersection going to school many times and they left a lasting memory.
I’m glad you liked it! Yeah I actually used a pic of that intersection in the video, I didn’t label the location though but if you look close enough you can see the road sign
This is an excellent video that is actually very interesting. Thank you for the detail and great editing :)
@@VictorianTransportSpotter Thanks so much! I’m really glad you liked it
Very interesting video mate!! I visited Melbourne not long ago and as a Sydneysider it immediately struck me the amount of halogen traffic lights still in use. I did not know the first traffic lights used to look like clocks 😳
Cool. I’ve made a few of these observations over the years in Melbourne, but you have helped me understand a lot more. I drive past a few of these regularly in Camberwell, Kew and Hawthorn. Thanks !
16:20 - That 1 in South Melbourne on City Road (where it says No Idea) brings back fond memories. My grandparents used to own the factory on that corner of city road and I recall using those lights many times as a kid in the 80s/90s and those unique crossing buttons. I am somewhat happy to still see them there.
Also I'm surprised to see how many intersections I recognise here. Especially the Woori Yallock 1 :). I must know Melbourne/Victoria better than I thought!
This is a stunning video! Absolutely fascinating look into the history and modern day presence of oft overlooked infrastructure!
Great video! I have always been a big fan of our traffic lights in Melbourne. I still have my 1990 AWA halogen fitting.
Very well done I learned a hell of a lot watching this video. When I was young in the mid to late 90's driving around Melb and seeing a lot of the older style traffic lights [yellow painted black] that still had the Walk/Don't Walk signals, sadly they've all seemed to disappear these days but there's still one older traffic light I regularly see at the corner of Blackburn & Whitehorse road, I think its a AWA light you can see chips of the old yellow paint. I better look up your interesting vintage traffic light map to check out other fascinating older lights, thanks very much once again!
@@mattw9005 Wow yeah I’ve found the light at Blackburn, crazy how I missed this! I’m glad you enjoyed the vid
Very interesting video. I walk around melbourne cbd every day during lunch so ill be sure to start looking closer at the traffic lights.
This is actually quite interesting. Great video.
@@hazptmedia thanks!
Fascinating and informative video. Well done guys. As a Melbourne local its interesting to know just how many different types and such there are about the place (eg i go through the ones at Woori Yallock pretty regularly).
There's one other set still with yellow traffic lights over than the one mentioned at Kew. There's a pedestrian set on Raleigh St in Westmeadows where the overhead ones haven't been painted black. However the target boards have fallen off in recent years.
@@marksanders5285 Wow thanks so much for this! This is an awesome find definitely need to check this out at some point!!
lets be honest youtube KNOWS i i have the tism and that's why i was recommended this! great content very informative and well made!
There used to be a set of lights at the intersection of Rosamond Road and Mitchell Street in Maidstone that was the only set I ever saw in Melbourne that showed red and amber together just prior to turning green (as is the standard in the UK). This was some years ago as they no longer are programmed to do this.
Also if you check out Wellington Street in Collingwood there is a set of pedestrian wigwams that have backlit signs. These are the only ones I have seen in Melbourne.
Would have been a programming error. Same with intersections that have the wrong timings or wrong turn signal timing.
There was a set on Pearson St in West Brunswick that did the same thing also. No longer though sadly.
This is the video that I didn't know I needed! Going interstate I always wondered why our traffic lights were so unique. How long did it take to research, and how on earth did you find real life examples when there are so few remaining for most of them? Also, what about tram T lights and point signals?
@@MaxProduction16 I’m glad you enjoyed the video! The research part did not take too long a lot of general research was done by my friend Redhen334 (in the description) and I compiled it all, so most credit to him although I did do a lot of research on earlier stuff. I’d say overall it took a week or two to get to the stage of filming.
I’ve definitely racked up thousands of hours on google maps and I started a map of older traffic lights a few years ago. So it definitely took ages to find a lot of the examples! But there are still some I’ve missed which have been shared by other people. But most of the locations I scouted myself. There is also a dataset by the Victorian government. Showing the location of every traffic light in the state, although I didn’t use this too much.
The tram traffic lights are mostly the same brand as usual lights such as Aldridge, however for points signals they also sometimes use their own special brand called Elektroline (I think it’s something like that), so yeah!
I've been waiting for someone to do a video in this style for these
Very interesting video, great research and editing props to you!
Very detailed video! Good job!
The intersection at the corner of the Blackburn North shopping centre also used to have Eagle Signal lights but they were all replaced with modern LED ones in 2015-2017 by what I remember! :)
I didn’t know that Keysborough still had the old pedestrian crossing signal buttons 😮 how many times I have driven past here and I never would’ve known. I used to live in this suburb and work in Braeside which is further up Cheltenham Road lol 😜 small world
Thank you. This was fascinating. I have the same obsession with street blades / road signs. Hoping someone might do a similar video like this on that category! Cheers.
good job buddy Love history around melbourne never thought I would learn so much about traffic lights i will now not look at them in the same way :) I had to laugh when you mentioned the button press to cross the road....My brother and me use to always fight over who was going to press it when we were young loved to see it light up fun times lol
In my lifetime the marshalite lights always used a relay to actual lights. This gave the absolute "the light is now red" attribute. The HUGE advantage is that you know that a light is ABOUT to change so you never have that "can I brake or not" moment. As long as people didn't try to go before the green they increased the flow in vehicles per hour. The primary disadvantage is that the proportion of red to green could not be altered at different times of day. In Geelong they used the multiple coloured bars. Something that has been reintroduced in China recently. For the same reason as the Marshalite lights. It increases the capacity of the road. It shows a "count down" as the light phase time increases. i.e. you get a warning that the lights will change soon.
fellow traffic light lover!!! Thoroughly enjoyed your video. Here in the UK, the most popular from the 70s to the 90s were the iconic 'Mellor' style made by Plessey, PAGE, and some super duper rare PEEK Mellor signals. They were widely replaced by more modular and easier to maintain Microsense and Siemens newer designs. There's still a fair few old Mellors knocking about, especially around Liverpool, Oxford, London areas but I believe the bulbs they use have been out of production for a good while now so they're quickly being replaced which is kind of sad really, but LEDs are obviously a lot more reliable; nowadays they're still made by PEEK and Siemens
@@lerelo I’m glad you enjoyed! I definitely want to go to the UK sometime for the trains as well as the traffic lights! Thanks for the info too I’ll probably have a look at some photos
16:38 - Can confirm those buttons on Greenwood Drive are still there. Great video! Super helpful.
As a kid I remember the clock type traffic lights on the Nepean Highway.
Great Video SBMetro!
I had this in my recommended many times and upon checking it out I found it very engaging and informative!
@@jonahsrailwaychannel8958 glad you enjoyed!
I recall, just and vaguely the traffic lights in Geelong. Maloop street had a centre fixture like a war memorial style. On each of the four faces it had the three colours Red, Yellow and green but each colour was made up of horizontal neon tubes. The number of tubes lit was proportional to the time remaining, so it started with all the tubes lit, as time passed one tube would be switched off until no more remained. Then the next colour would be lit up. As an 8 year old i was fascinated by then and would insist we would go around the block to see them again.
This would have been in the late 1950s
In other states of Australia we see traffic lights with white frame line
"Traffic lights are probably something most people don't pay attention to..." I sure hope they do, lol! They're certainly not there to be ignored :P.
(great video, btw! Just a funny first line)
Yeah maybe could’ve worded it a bit differently haha, glad you enjoyed it!
In my lifetime (70 + years) the 'clock face' when used at intersections were used in conjunction with lights.
They were GREAT.
You could adjust your speed to 'catch the green'.
They were removed because, unfortunately, too many people INCREASED their speed to 'beat the red' - with resultant collisions.
Happy 1,000 subs!
I remember the clock faces on the road down to Frankston. The single hand slowly moved clockwise thru the green, amber and red clock face colours. When the hand passed into red, you stopped. Green go.
Very informative video! I can see there has been a lot of effort and dedication put into this video! Would you ever consider doing a history and guide to street lights in victoria? I know it may not really be your thing but there are so many different ones out there like there are traffic lights and would be interesting to know the history.
Maybe I’ll look into it a bit, that’s something I never really pay attention to but I’ll definitely keep an eye out!
Also always noticed the clear LED lights on Westall Road as we would always go through there when visiting my grandparents! :)
in 1966 the Nepean Hwy clock type also had the conventional 3 light system. There was another at Edithvale and I think Carrum as well.
Yeah this popped up as a recommended video to watch.
I really appreciate the information. Well presented. I have subscribed.
It may be old info but for a while the Marshalite signals in Chelsea were driving a pedestrian crossing across Nepean Highway - connected to more modern three-color heads. They would have been operating into the early 80s if my memory serves me right - just long enough for me to personally have to stop my car at them.
There are some old incandescent heads at the corner of Burwood Hwy and Glenfern rd. They are visible on google maps, and were still there as of my last trip down that road within the last month.
Around 1984-1986, a Mentone company called Dyco Products used to make and sell portable traffic lights for use during roadworks. Second hand heads were purchased and modified to use 12 lamps. The heads used were 8 inch, but they also ended up with a few 12 inch heads that were broken up, then turned into a 4x4 light display that was running patterns as an attention grab for exhibitions.
i have one of those old 70s Durasig traffic signals! they are very interesting old signals and mine is an incandescent model, awesome video!
South Australia had plenty of Eagle signals up to the mid 2000s. They were yellow/black together and had combinations of 8-inch with 12-inch on the side.
There were also 2-segment 'Turn Left/Right With Care', 'No Left/Right Turn' and even 'Tram Only' signals.
Pedestrian signals had worded lenses too. The last remaining ones were in use on Valetta Road in Kidman Park, Jetty Street in Grange and Winston Avenue/Edward Street intersection in Melrose Park up to the mid/late 2010s. I managed to obtain one in 2012 and repainted it to how it looked in the 1970s!
Wow. Thanks for a REALLY interesting video! Cheers
10:56 that kind of pedestrian light looks almost exactly like the ones used throughout New York City
I love traffic lights too. I believe there are some yellow ones at cnr Raleigh st and Riddell st in Westmeadows
I remember seeing this short docu-info package at spotswood's interactive museum and it remember it talking bout VicRoads SCATS system or something to that effect, the magnetic sensor loops embedded in the asphalt and the automatic adjustment of timing to accommodate peak hour traffic. This was back in 1994 maybe? World leading.
I remember as a kid seeing the old clock style traffic lights on the Nepean highway when we went on family trips to Mornington.
I always thought that most of the LED traffic lights were retrofitted LED assemblies the replaced the old tungsten/halogen reflector and lens assemblies.
What reinforced that in my mind was after traffic lights were upgraded to LED I swear that there a split second on no lights being on as the reaction time in switching them as LEDs react instantly where as halogen has a reaction time.
I would presume that around this time the control electronics would of changed from relay based to networked microprocessor controlled units that replayed relays with mosfets ( or some other electronic component )
Anyway great video …
I should add I pass two ‘give way to pedestrians’ lights on my way to work on traffic light turns (ones a t-intersection and the other is kind of one in that straight ahead is a dead end so 90% of the traffic will turn left or right). One on the corner of Glenhuntly Road and Orrong Road, Elsternwick. And another in Monash on corner of Blackburn Road and Normanby Road.
I like the pedestrian button that is non contact. Seen in Edinburgh you place your hand under the control it activates the walk , don't walk. Non contact for germs.
Early AWA signals were basically the British ATE "tin lanterns" which were seen in a fair few countries, including France, Belgium, Norway, Ireland and Switzerland.
yo anyone here after watching 3 hours of videos about trains(including a video about train traffic lights obviously), followed by 2 hours of ferry's , now this pop's up? heck yes!
Around the early 90's AWA was contracted by the city of Bandung to install traffic lights and SCATS control system, the lights still exist but the original controllers are replaced around late-2010s. Some intersections get completely replaced, some are also abandoned, most lights are retrofitted with LED too. They used to come with PB/5 buttons but they didn't last.
@@anindrapratama Oh yeah I think I saw photos of that, it’s pretty interesting. They used slightly different designs to Australia
I remember the Marshal clock traffic lights as a kid in the ‘60s. There were also normal traffic lights that operated with them.
They would be stationary until you pressed a button. If you pressed it too quickly, the hands would start slightly then stop.
Eventually the hands were vandalizef and the clocks were removed and reinstated many years later.
Awesome video! I’m a recent addition to Melbourne and I have noticed a variety of signals here, so good to have a comprehensive explanation.
One thing I also remember is that signals in Victoria used to have a red-yellow phase before the light turned green, like they have in the UK. It seems to be before my time but my friend and I did find one light that did this on a visit in 2006. Do you know if this was widespread and/or when they stopped this phasing?
Sydney's traffic lights look a lot fancier than Melbourne's
How about a video on the different control systems and strategies !
Hook turns, SCATS and the rest !
I think the oldest ones are at the Kew traffic school. There were some very old ones in the Docklands from America before it was all developed and the Railways had some too in their yards for cars and trucks.
Yeah I've been meaning to go there
Really interesting video! And i never thought I'd say that about traffic lights!
What I'd like to know is why some jurisdictions (VIC, SA, NT) have all black traffic light backboards. Yet other jurisdictions (QLD, NSW, WA, TAS, ACT, & NZ, Fiji) have a white line around the perimeter of the backboards?
I'm glad you enjoyed, I really appreciate it.
Yeah about the backboards somebody asked that too, I may need to look into it as I am not too sure myself. One interesting thing though is that in Adelaide the traffic lights there have the white borders, which is odd. And in Melbourne outside of Southern Cross Station on Collins Street, one of the pedestrian crossings has a traffic light with the white border. Definitely something I need to look into!
@@sbmetro165 Interesting as a Victorian I've driven through SA plenty of times and only ever spotted one traffic light with the white line on the backboard and that was in Adelaide CBD. The rest of metro Adelaide had the Victorian style all-black backboards.
Yet the only time I've ever seen the traffic lights with the white line backboard in Victoria is on those temporary road-works traffic lights
it may not be of your interest but the swedish pedestrian crossing buttons are fascinating
I’ll be sure to check them out!
This video appears to focus on the actual traffic light fittings rather than the operational functions of the system , such as coordination and timing . My experience with driving on Melbourne's roads was of extreme frustration with the absolutely atrocious coordination of the signals , and constantly being stopped by nearly every red light . Is this poor management or are traffic lights being deliberately set this way in an attempt at traffic calming ? The worst , most frustrating trip was along White Horse Road towards Ringwood from the west - every single red light ! The last time I visited Melbourne was in 2003 , so hopefully this situation has improved since then . Interestingly , I didn't notice many red lights in this video , with most displaying green ! The phasing of traffic signals in Sydney can be far from perfect , but at least it is reasonable , whereas the best experience with traffic lights was in Adelaide , also in 2003 . Regarding the signal manufacturers , I believe that Philips was/is a key player in Sydney . PS : Thanks for the accolade , however this was inadvertently removed when I edited out mistakes after reading my comment again .
Wonderful video…really enjoyed it ! Just one thing…what about the old WALK/DONT WALK pedestrian lights that were used in Melbourne for decades before they were replaced by the red/ green standing/walking man pedestrian lights. I think they began replacing them in the early 90s (????). I would love to see them make a comeback…I think the words had more impact than the pictures. What do you think?
Oh yes that is one thing I forgot to talk about. I feel like they would be pretty useful if they still existed but I guess there’s probably niche reasons they got rid of them like what if you couldn’t read English? Yeah there were a few around until the early 2010s
@@sbmetro165 : when I was in Melbourne in 2002, I only found one remaining set of Don't Walk/Walk lights, and those were in Glen Waverley.
I remember seeing the older square crossing buttons everywhere when I first moved to Canberra in 2001 - I'm pretty sure they were retrofitted with speakers too - though they all disappeared (along with the very square pedestrian lights that still said Don't Walk/Walk) along with the other incandescent lights. They were cool because they had the light on them that the PB/5s didn't have (outside VIC).
I like how Victorian PB/5s have the light, and I don't understand why it wasn't adopted elsewhere.
I will be watching on my next walk - Now what about a video on the speed cameras that get you when you go through traffic lights when red or go through too fast!
I went to court to escape a $300 fine for doing 60 kmh when a barely visible sign said the limit was 40 kmh.
I won - much to my amazement.
Fabulous.
oh thank god we are moving to an led behind an diffuser. For some daft reason they stated making the ones with several LED's around the brightness of headlights.
I'm surprised no mention of traffic light sequence was mentioned. It was something that was always noticeable about Victoria compared to NSW. The sequencing (red+amber before going green) disappeared sometime in the late 80s and early 90's.
There was also a variety of traffic light road sensors. Induction loops being the most common and still used today but there were other types like a rubber strip pressure sensor built into the road on each lane. They appeared to get damaged and by the 80's they were just abandoned relics left in the road.
Some other style of lights were used in NSW, and I particularly remember a very old set at the corner of Church and Phillip Streets in Parramatta NSW that were in use into the late 90s. They were similar to old style UK traffic lights each light being it's own module. They were originally painted black and white but later were painted all yellow like Victorian lights in the 70s.
There were also some weird road markings that were associated with traffic lights that have now long since vanished. Pedestrian lanes were one of them. There was also a secondary set of pedestrian indicators that signaled to pedestrians wanting to cross he road without having to cross at the intersection corners. I don't remember them being red or green, just large with worded indicators that lit up when the pedestrian indicator was green.
@@trash0 Yeah I was mainly discussing the different types of lights but the sequence is definitely something I’ve noticed! Unfortunately all the places I remember the old sequence at have mostly been updated although are are probably still a few around. And sensors I haven’t looked into but I might start looking out for them now. Thanks for the info!
Watsonia Rd & Nell St West - Watsonia still has the R, RY, G.
Kew and Camberwell junctions have always been a testing ground for new lighting tech. For memory, the first touchless sensor pedestrian buttons were tested in Camberwell as a trial around 2012ish before being installed in a few other places. You could have also mentioned the light up tactile pavers that are linked to the pedestrian signals on a few of the "little streets and lanes" in the cbd, really neat, especially for people just looking at their phones the entire time 😂
touchless sensor pedestrian buttons were a lot earlier then that, i think early 2000's at prospect rd and Burke is where i first noticed them, I will have to check if they are still there.
Late 90’s had the first LED and touch less ped buttons in Camberwell. The controllers were too slow changing, and the leds/boards would fail in the new LED globes. You can tell as they have the clear lenses.
I watched, I learned stuff. Thanks, I will now look at traffic lights, instead of just obeying them.
There is a old don't walk light near highpoint
-37.7690286, 144.8863733
Your autism is showing
Nice find. That is an oddity as it has a regular light just next to it. Wonder why they kept it?
My first factory was next door to L&M Traffic Signal, in Croydon, they gave me a bunch of old 8” incandescent heads to install at the Alexandra racetrack, it was a mix of brands, I really wanted a set of the 12” heads for home, but they were ratting them for spare parts. L&M got bought out by Tyco for their licensing and contracts 😢
At 2:36, awa signals also exist in indonesia and malaysia and somewhat still now, rather as an led retrofit
Tyco has discrete LED types too, but they have a more difffuse lens in front of them compared to the ATS to spread the light more. They are very common.
In Canada every stop light case is yellow and the poles that hold them up are also yellow too
And they are worse
This is peak traffic light nerdism. 😅 I mentioned it to my Dad and he mentioned the first traffic lights in Geelong that were strung over a particular intersection, but they would have long since been replaced. I didn't notice anything like them in this video, so I suppose this will be an irresistible challenge to document the oldest traffic lights that will only exist in historic photographs.
@@iangreen180 Ooh yes a few people have mentioned this, there are a few photos of it that come up on google images! I had no idea about them until people mentioned them here. They look super cool! I’m glad you liked the video
@@sbmetro165 Need to pick the minds of men over 80 while they are still here
300mm lights were used as primary lights at the stop line anywhere with some exceptions. Today, Victoria doesn’t use 300mm lights, 200mm are the only standard. All 300mm are replaced through upgrades to intersections or faults.