Traffic Lights

In 1868, traffic signals were installed outside the Houses of Parliament, London to replace police officers controlling the traffic. The following is a timeline of events surrounding the introduction and use of traffic lights around the world.

Red – Stop
Red & Amber – Stop
Green – Go
  • 1912 – The first electric lights were installed in Cleveland, Ohio.
  • 1919 – World’s first three-colour lights installed in Detroit.
  • 1922 – First electrically synchronised lights installed in Houston, Texas.
  • 1923 – First electrically powered lights installed in Paris, France.
  • 1926 – Manually operated lights installed in Piccadilly, London.
  • 1927 – Other London areas began installation of lights.
  • 1928 – Automatic lights in operation in Wolverhampton.
  • 1931 – First Convention of the Unification of Road Signals was signed in Geneva standardising the colours of red, yellow and green
  • 1934 – Ministry of Transport officially defined colour significance.
  • 1934 – Traffic lights established in Berlin, Germany.
  • 1925 – Milan, Italy now using traffic lights.
  • 1926 – Traffic lights instead in Rome, Italy.
  • 1928 – Prague, Czech Republic joined the use of.
  • 1930 – Barcelona, Spain adopted traffic lights.
  • 1931 – Tokyo, Japan started using the traffic system.
  • 1952 – Computerised control of lights in Denver, USA.
  • 1955 – Pedestrian signals installed in Paris, France.
  • 1967 – Vehicle detection incorporated into systems in Toronto, Canada.
  • 1968 – Signing system standardised by the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals.
  • 1974 – Human figures for walk and wait introduced for pedestrians.

Since the 1970’s, traffic lights themselves have not changed much due to the efficiency of the design. The controlling of lights has become smarter due to the advancement of computer system and use of sensors. The addition of pedestrian control enabled people to safely cross the roads. Normally a walk light or walking person symbol illuminated in green, and a ‘don’t walk’ light or standing figure illuminated in red. Various styles exist around the world for these controls.

Wait – Do Not Cross
Wait – Do Not Cross
Proceed – Safe To Cross

An early use of cyber hacking took place in the fictional film “The Italian Job” (1969) whereas a supercomputer in Turin controlled every traffic light and the program was modified to cause chaos and traffic jams in the city. Technically, in 1969, there would have been no network connectivity to this supercomputer and tampering would have to have to had been done in the computer room in the control centre. The programming would have likely to be run from mounted magnetic tape(s). ©