How do Traffic Lights Work?

Are you looking to add traffic lights to your next construction project? These are an essential addition to any event or worksite, and here at RPM Hire, we have a wide range of portable traffic lights available for hire. In addition to standard portable traffic lights, we also stock pedestrian traffic lights which include a button for pedestrians to press when they approach the traffic lights and are ready to cross the road. 

These powerful units are completely programmable to your needs, allowing you to develop a safe and smooth flow of traffic across any site. These solar-powered solutions come with a simple traffic light controller program, allowing you to quickly and efficiently update your timings. 

Are you wondering how do traffic lights work? We have put together a quick guide to help you understand more about traffic lights.

Why should you use portable traffic lights?

Portable traffic lights are a crucial addition to any construction site or major event and can provide you with a wide range of benefits, including:

• Increased Safety

When it comes to programming traffic lights, the most important thing to focus on is safety. The use of these machines will remove the need to have a human traffic controller on the road, reducing the risk of your staff being injured. 

They will also ensure you can correctly manage the flow of traffic through the site, ensuring your guests can enter, pass, and exit safely. 

• Clear visibility

The addition of portable traffic lights also ensures maximum visibility for drivers. These units utilise powerful and vibrant LED lights, which makes them clearly visible day or night. These LEDs can also be seen from a long distance away, ensuring motorists will be able to react to the changing road conditions, further boosting safety. 

• Convenient 

Portable traffic lights are very convenient. Not only can they be quickly manoeuvred around, but they are also very easy to set up. Programming traffic lights is very quick to do and requires very little training or preparation. 

To take that convenience even further, all of our traffic lights are powered by solar panels and come with a backup generator, ensuring that they can operate around the clock. 

• Cost efficient 

Using portable traffic lights is also a very cost effective solution. When you are able to remove the need for the additional staff to control and manage traffic, it reduces your costs and improves your overall efficiency.  

Not only are these traffic lights an affordable solution, but they can also help you to save money. Many insurance providers offer lower premiums for events and construction projects have proven and reliable traffic management equipment in place. 

How do traffic lights work?

Let’s take a look into how traffic lights work. This is one of the most common questions that our customers ask, and understanding their system will help make it easier to use the traffic light controller program. 

No matter whether you are running an event that will welcome hundreds of visitors or you have a construction project that impacts a public road, traffic lights are essential to maintain a safe and steady flow. Portable traffic lights typically offer three methods of operation (With the capability of a 3 and 4 way set up):

• Vehicle Actuated 

This is where the traffic lights utilise a sensor to recognise cars, changing the signals from red to green according to the traffic. 

• Fixed Time 

A fixed time traffic light controller program us one that sees the unit change the signals after a set period of time, no matter the traffic. 

• Manual 

Manual programming of traffic lights is where an individual remains in full control of the system, filtering between signals as required. 

Portable traffic lights can be used in a wide range of scenarios and can be positioned across large sites, major traffic routes, interchanges, and more. They can also be used to control the flow of heavy equipment across your construction site. 

Need support with your next project?

Incorporating an effective traffic light controller program is essential to improving the safety and efficiency of your event or construction project. However, we know how confusing it can be when it comes to programming traffic lights. That is why our experienced team is on hand to help you. 

We pride ourselves on delivering the very best equipment possible for our clients, and we have an extensive array of traffic equipment available to support you. We know that anything can happen, which is why to ensure you have complete peace of mind, we offer a full coverage guarantee. That means you are protected in the event of theft, incidental damage, collisions, vandalism and even natural disasters. 

Not confident of programming your traffic lights yourself? Fear not! Our friendly RPM Hire team are on hand to support you every step of the way and ensure that you can get the very best from your equipment. Alongside this, we provide around the clock support and free access to our innovative technology. 

Want to find out more? Get in touch today!