Quebec scraps Brossard traffic light that rewards good driving, says it wasn't consulted

A pilot project meant to improve pedestrian safety on a street on Montreal's South Shore came to an abrupt end last week, barely days after it was put in place.

The reason: the province's Ministry of Transport didn't approve of the plan.

The concept of the speed device was to reward good drivers: drive within the speed limit, and the light would remain green. Drive over the limit, and drivers would get a symbolic red light. 

The "Feu de ralentissement éducatif" (Educational Speed-Reducing Light), or FRED, for short, was installed on Stravinski Avenue in Brossard, in front of the Academie Marie-Laurier Academy, to discourage speeding in the 30 km/h zone.

But last week, Quebec's transport ministry stepped in and ordered the city to stop the pilot project because the red light didn't meet provincial requirements. Brossard had to turn off the new system all together.

"I feel that once the bureaucrats at the ministry took over it became a futile exercise in forms and bureaucracy," said Brossard Mayor Doreen Assad.

The ministry said in a statement that it was not consulted about the pilot project and finds the symbolic light -- which was meant to slow down drivers -- to be problematic.

"A red light cannot be used to slow down traffic, but must be used to induce a stopping manoeuvre. In the context of the pilot project, the traffic light is used to make users slow down, not to make them stop," wrote ministry spokesperson Louis-André Bertrand.

"The meaning of the message is therefore altered, which can lead to major road safety issues."

The maker of the traffic light says it requested a meeting with transport ministry engineers to determine what changes can be implemented. Other technologies already exist to remind drivers when they're speeding, such as a display radar. But Assad felt this one was more rewarding for obedient drivers.

"I think the administration at the minister's office should have allowed the opportunity to at least complete our 90-day pilot. Then, after that, we would have seen what the next step had to be," the mayor said.

But with no hope of a quick turnaround, a system already widely installed in Europe will have to wait another day before its experiment with Quebec again.