Traffic congestion

The request was refused by City of Edinburgh Council.

Dear City of Edinburgh Council,
I am sure you work to a culture of continuous improvement and have systems and processes in place to manage your organisation. You are a council and your services to the city are your product. If these services are failing the residents then the is a problem and a corrective action should be raised. An investigation in to the root cause should then be undertaken, looking ate traffic light timings and their effect on traffic, traffic calming measure and their effects on traffic and pollution, and traffic lights changing and purposely stopping cars, when there is no other traffic on the road. The systems in place are supposed to be beneficial to the traffic flow, intelligent systems would allow free flow of the traffic in one direction if there was no obstacles in its path, thus improving traffic flow and pollution. As you are ISO 9001 certified these processes should be in place already. The traffic light system should have a full design documentation including design reviews and risk assessments. The model that is currently running in the city center is not adding to the culture of continuous improvement and should have a corrective action raised against it. How do you deal with a complaint made against the service you are providing the city? taking into account what I have said can you provide an explanation and the accompanying documentation to support the answer for:
Why do traffic light stop approaching cars when there is no other traffic in any direction ?
Yours faithfully

City of Edinburgh Council

Ms Wendy Anderson

Our ref: 18078

Dear Ms Anderson

Acknowledgement of Request

Subject: Traffic congestion

Thank you for your request for information of 09/03/2018 which was received on 09/03/2018. In your request you asked for the following;

I am sure you work to a culture of continuous improvement and have systems and processes in place to manage your organisation. You are a council and your services to the city are your product. If these services are failing the residents then the is a problem and a corrective action should be raised. An investigation in to the root cause should then be undertaken, looking ate traffic light timings and their effect on traffic, traffic calming measure and their effects on traffic and pollution, and traffic lights changing and purposely stopping cars, when there is no other traffic on the road. The systems in place are supposed to be beneficial to the traffic flow, intelligent systems would allow free flow of the traffic in one direction if there was no obstacles in its path, thus improving traffic flow and pollution. As you are ISO 9001 certified these processes should be in place already. The traffic light system should have a full design documentation including design reviews and risk assessments. The model that is currently running in the city center is not adding to the culture of continuous improvement and should have a corrective action raised against it. How do you deal with a complaint made against the service you are providing the city? taking into account what I have said can you provide an explanation and the accompanying documentation to support the answer for:
Why do traffic light stop approaching cars when there is no other traffic in any direction ?

I can confirm that your request will be processed under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, Environmental Information Regulations (Scotland) 2004, or the INSPIRE (Scotland) Regulations 2009.

You will receive the information requested within 20 working days unless the Council does not hold the information, or there is a reason for it to be withheld. We will write to you in any event. This means we have until 09/04/2018 to respond to your request.

In some circumstances a fee may be payable and if that is the case we will let you know.

If you have any requirements regarding the format any information should be supplied in, e.g. the language to be used, audio, large print and so on, then please let me know.

If you have any queries or concerns, do not hesitate to get in touch. Please quote the reference number above in any future communications.

To promote transparency and accountability, please note it is the Council’s policy to publish all request details and responses made under the freedom of information legislation. This information will be made available through the Council’s website and will not include your personal details. The disclosure log is available at the following link: http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/homepage/175....

Further information about your rights and accessing information is available on our website at: www.edinburgh.gov.uk

Yours sincerely,

Information Governance Unit
Level 2:1, Waverley Court, Edinburgh EH8 8BG Tel 0131 200 2340
[Edinburgh City Council request email] www.edinburgh.gov.uk

City of Edinburgh Council

Ms Wendy Anderson

[FOI #469613 email]

Our ref: 18078

Dear Ms Anderson

Request for Clarification

Subject: Traffic Congestion

Thank you for your request for information of 09/03/2018 in which you asked the following:

"I am sure you work to a culture of continuous improvement and have systems and processes in place to manage your organisation. You are a council and your services to the city are your product. If these services are failing the residents then the is a problem and a corrective action should be raised. An investigation in to the root cause should then be undertaken, looking ate traffic light timings and their effect on traffic, traffic calming measure and their effects on traffic and pollution, and traffic lights changing and purposely stopping cars, when there is no other traffic on the road. The systems in place are supposed to be beneficial to the traffic flow, intelligent systems would allow free flow of the traffic in one direction if there was no obstacles in its path, thus improving traffic flow and pollution. As you are ISO 9001 certified these processes should be in place already. The traffic light system should have a full design documentation including design reviews and risk assessments. The model that is currently running in the city center is not adding to the culture of continuous improvement and should have a corrective action raised against it. How do you deal with a complaint made against the service you are providing the city? taking into account what I have said can you provide an explanation and the accompanying documentation to support the answer for:
Why do traffic light stop approaching cars when there is no other traffic in any direction ?"

Unfortunately, we cannot identify the information you have requested from the details you have provided. To help us meet your request, could you please provide the following:

The Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 give you access to recorded information. We would not provide our views or opinions on a subject unless they are in a recorded format. It is not clear from your request above precisely what recorded information you are seeking. Are you looking for traffic light design documentation in relation to those traffic lights which follow a certain sequence? Are there particular sets of traffic lights you are interested in? You refer to traffic flow in the city centre but would your request relate to other parts of the city? Are you looking for particular traffic modelling information which may include information on traffic light sequencing?

On receipt of these further details, we will respond to your request within 20 working days. Please note that the statutory 20 working day deadline for responding to your request does not start until we receive the requested clarification from you.

If we do not hear from you within 40 working days, we will assume that you are no longer seeking the information you have requested and we will take no further action.

If you wish to discuss further, please get in touch. Please quote the reference number above in any future communications.

Further information about your rights and accessing information is available on our website at: www.edinburgh.gov.uk

Yours sincerely,

Iain Burden
Information Rights Officer

Information Governance Unit
Level 2:1, Waverley Court, Edinburgh EH8 8BG Tel 0131 200 2340
[Edinburgh City Council request email] www.edinburgh.gov.uk

City of Edinburgh Council

Ms Wendy Anderson

[FOI #469613 email]

Our ref: 18078

Dear Ms Anderson

Request for Clarification

Subject: Traffic Congestion

We wrote to you on 09/03/2018 asking if you could provide some further details to help us identify the information you are interested in. To date we have not received a response from you. Unfortunately, we cannot proceed with your request until you provide us with the following:

The Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 give you access to recorded information. We would not provide our views or opinions on a subject unless they are in a recorded format. It is not clear from your request precisely what recorded information you are seeking. Are you looking for traffic light design documentation in relation to those traffic lights which follow a certain sequence? Are there particular sets of traffic lights you are interested in? You refer to traffic flow in the city centre but would your request relate to other parts of the city? Are you looking for particular traffic modelling information which may include information on traffic light sequencing?

On receipt of these further details, we will respond to your request within 20 working days. Please note that the statutory 20 working day deadline for responding to your request does not start until we have received the requested clarification from you.

If we do not hear from you within 20 working days, we will assume that you are no longer seeking the information you have requested and will take no further action.

If you wish to discuss your request, or have any questions please do not hesitate to get in touch. Please quote the reference number above in any future communications.

Further information about your rights and accessing information is available on our website at: www.edinburgh.gov.uk

Yours sincerely,

Iain Burden
Information Rights Officer

Information Governance  Unit
Level 2:1, Waverley Court, Edinburgh EH8 8BG Tel 0131 200 2340
[Edinburgh City Council request email] www.edinburgh.gov.uk

City of Edinburgh Council

Ms Wendy Anderson

[FOI #469613 email]

Our ref: 18078

Dear Ms Anderson

Request for Clarification - Closure

Subject: Traffic Congestion

We wrote to you on 09/03/2018 and again on 20/04/2018 asking if you could provide some further details to help us identify the information you requested on 09/03/2018. To date we have not received a response from you.

As 40 working days have elapsed, we have assumed that you are no longer seeking the information you have requested and have closed your request.

Your right to seek a review

If you are unhappy with the way we have dealt with your request, you can ask us to review our actions and decisions by writing to the:

Head of Strategy & Insight
The City of Edinburgh Council
Waverley Court Business Centre 2:1
4, East Market Street
Edinburgh
EH8 8BG or;
Email: [email address]

Please note that your request must be in a recordable format (email, letter, audio tape etc.), and that you have 40 working days upon receipt of this letter to ask for a review. You will receive a full response to your review request within 20 working days of its receipt. Please quote the reference number above in any future communications.

If you are not content with the outcome of the review, you can ask the Scottish Information Commissioner to review our decision. You must submit your complaint to the Commissioner within 6 months of receiving our review response. The Commissioner can be contacted at:

The Office of the Scottish Information Commissioner
Kinburn Castle
Doubledykes Road
St Andrews
Fife
KY16 9DS
Telephone: 01334 464610
Fax: 01334 464611
Website www.itspublicknowledge.info
E-mail: [email address]

Further information about your rights and accessing information is available on our website at: www.edinburgh.gov.uk

Yours sincerely,

Iain Burden
Information Rights Officer

Information Governance Unit
Level 2:1, Waverley Court, Edinburgh EH8 8BG Tel 0131 200 2340
[Edinburgh City Council request email] www.edinburgh.gov.uk