Device to promote the movement of buses by allocation of priority of crossing of an intersection controlled by traffic lights

Claim 1

Device to promote movement of buses by allowing them priority of passage through intersections which are controlled by lights, with said priority modified by the movement of the other vehicular traffic, said device comprising a controller CR of the lights of the intersection; a unit T Ph A for each of the streets Ph A on which the buses travel, each T Ph A unit having means to receive from said controller information on the state of the green light on street Ph A, and means to receive, from bus detectors DS A1, information that a bus traveling on said street Ph A is approaching the intersection, and means to receive, from detectors of the state of the traffic movement LQ B1, information as to whether traffic adjacent the intersection on a cross street Ph B is moving or non-moving; said unit having two programmer wheels 255 and 256 for selectively setting two minimum time durations X A 11 and X A 12 of the green lights of said street Ph A, one corresponding to the "moving traffic" information and the other corresponding to the "non-moving traffic" information received from said traffic movement detectors, and two programmer wheels 267 and 268 for selectively setting two time durations of time extensions Z 11 and Z 12 for extension of the green light of said street Ph A, one corresponding to said "moving traffic" information and the other corresponding to said "non-moving traffic" information, and a programmer wheel 265 for selectively setting a time duration Y 10 which is the maximum permitted duration of the green light of said street Ph A; the unit T Ph A having means to act on controller CR of the lights of the intersection to speed the passage of buses detected by DS A1 on PH A without unduly delaying traffic detected by LQ B1 on Ph B; and a unit T Ph B for each of the streets Ph B on which no bus travels, the T Ph B unit having means to receive from controller CR, information on the state of the green light of said street Ph B, and from detectors of the state of the traffic LQ A1, information as to whether the traffic adjacent the intersection on the same street Ph A as the bus is moving or non-moving, the T Ph B unit comprising two programmer wheels 260 and 261 for selectively setting two minimum time durations X B 11 and X B 12 of the green light of said street Ph B, the T Ph B unit having means to act on controller CR of the intersection lights to promote the flow of the traffic in which the bus would otherwise be delayed.