For well over a century, traffic signal control has used red and green signals at intersections to avoid collisions during crossing-conflict movements.

Signal cycles of more than a minute were required due to startup and clearance lost times, even when queuing delays would be less with lower cycle lengths.

Can new technologies help us design better signal control for conflicting streams to flow without accidents?

In fact, should we even start with the presumption that crossing movements involve more safety risks than car-following?

Can we then imagine signal control that allows designed and timed movements across conflicting streams, perhaps with technology assistance, thus essentially removing vehicle stoppage and signal cycling at nodes?

In such a scenario, the control can be in the form of timed flashing greens on approach links rather than at nodes.

Dramatically more efficient traffic control designs then become possible and are being developed at UC Irvine.

This talk will explain the intuitive basics of traffic control that are traditionally taken for granted and will discuss the possibilities of a new paradigm in traffic control that is link-based.