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Peter Olsen and his Flashing School Lights If you’re in NSW, you may have seen those “check speed” signs with flashing lights mounted near the large “school zone” signs which mark the areas around schools where children will be present before and after school. They’re the result of a lot of political pressure – and heartache – by Peter Olsen over the past six years. Of particular interest to SILICON CHIP, they’re powered by PICAXE microcontrollers. M ost people acknowledge that flashing warning lights in school zones will alert drivers of the need to slow traffic down and therefore, it is presumed, prevent accidents – and save lives. Much more so, in fact, than the static “school zone” signs we have known for more than a decade. So if you were the NSW State Government and were given the option of changing your $58,000 lights to $1,400 lights – with proven greater reliability, higher accuracy and a measured lower average vehicle speed, would you do it? No, you’d embark on an expensive PR campaign to denigrate the alternative lights and their developer, completely ignoring the fact that you, as a Government, had foregone the benefits 12  Silicon Chip and were determined to press on with your program, regardless. More than that, you’d launch a “dirty tricks” campaign to prove that your flashing lights were better, even to the extent of banning use of the others in public streets (current installations have all been on private property). But first, some background Peter Olsen first came to public prominence as the organiser of the world-famous “Lugarno Christmas Lights”, where not just Peter’s house, not just his neighbours but a whole street (it happened to be Maple St, Lugarno – a southern Sydney suburb) rallied together to put on a display of Christmas Lights. By Ross Tester Display is a massive understatement – Maple Street had literally hundreds of thousands of lights, with amazing animations, tableaux, cartoon characters and synchronised music. That not only attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors each year (and created multi-kilometre-long traffic jams – I speak from experience!) but along the way raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for charity. In 2006, Peter retired and moved several kilometres away. That same year, he heard that the (then) NSW Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) was trialling flashing warning lights for school zones. He was flabbergasted to find that the cost of each simple alternate-light flashing sign was (then) $12,000 and set out to prove that reliable flashing lights siliconchip.com.au Two versions of the NSW Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA – now RMS) School Zone Speed Signs. The one above has no flashing lights but is overwhelmingly the most common today. At right is their latest and greatest version, complete with flashing LED lights, a flashing LED annulus around the speed sign . . . and solar powered. Each sign costs around $58,000. Peter Olsen’s simpler version (opposite) costs $1400 – installed! could be produced for just a fraction of proved to be 100% reliable for the that amount. Based on his experience four years that they were in operawith computerised Christmas lights, tion – except for a couple of problems he made his first flashing light signs where power supplies, provided by for just $200. the RTA, failed. They were controlled by a 7-day According to a government media electronic timer. He installed them on release, the RTA’s own flashing signs eight 40km/h signs, without approval, are only 98.2% reliable. in mid-2006. In 2009, after becoming frustrated There followed a rather pub- that the RTA was still refusing to use lic “stoush” between Peter Ols- cheaper technology, Peter started inen and the RTA, with the RTA stalling signs of his own. “ r i p p i n g o u t ” P e t e r ’s s i g n s , He first studied the law carefully to Peter re-installing them and the RTA find out what was legal. He adopted pulling them out again. the words “Check Speed”, to avoid the A series of meetings with the RTA prohibition on installing “prescribed and Minister for Roads finally resulted signs”. He also installed them on priin an approved “trial” of eight RTA Lights vs Olsen Lights sets of lights. RTA LIGHTS P e t e r d e v e l - FEATURE oped a fully au- Average cost per sign $58,125 tomatic PICAXE Cost to taxpayer per sign $58,125 based control- Annual maintenance cost per sign $2,545 ler for the signs, Reliability 98.2% complete with 4.3kmh GPS for accurate Average reduction in vehicle speed No timekeeping. He GPS receiver for absolute timing accuracy signed a contract Average fault repair time 2 days authorising the Average time from school request to install 2 years RTA to use his Provide to any school in NSW on request No technology, royalTotal school zones installed as at May 2009 291 ty-free, forever, if School zones installed from Jan-May 2009 25 they wished. T h e l i g h t s Total staff in organisation doing installs 7,000 siliconchip.com.au vate property, where they were beyond the RTA’s reach. The lights cost around $1,400 per sign, which includes the sign and pole to mount it on. Peter points out that if the lights were installed directly on the existing 40km/h signs, the cost would be under $1,000 each. Fast-forward to 2012 The NSW Government has changed, the RTA has been replaced by the Roads and Maritime Services (RMS). Unfortunately, the one thing that hasn’t really changed is the bureaucratic attitude to Peter Olsen’s lights. They still want their own! Operating costs OLSEN LIGHTS $1,400 $0 $0 100% 6.3kmh Yes 0 days 2 weeks Yes 21 17 1 We ’ v e a l r e a d y looked at the cost to produce the signs – but what about the cost to operate them? Virtually all signs installed by RMS are solar powered, with power saving and “green” credentials being the usual reasons given. Peter Olsen claims this is bunkum. Solar-derived power, even on the small July 2012  13 One of Peter Olsen’s “Check Speed” signs, installed on private property but as close as possible to the non-flashing RMS School Zone signs. scale required to run the lights, is significantly more expensive to install, is significantly less reliable than a mains supply and requires more maintenance (eg, to replace batteries at least every three years). Not only that, the solar panels themselves are subject to theft, vandalism and hail damage. And when the signs are inevitably hit by errant vehicles, they are a lot more expensive to fix or replace. Peter Olsen claims that solarpowered lights are around 200 times times more expensive to maintain than mains-powered lights. And as for “green”, he asks “what about the cost to manufacture the solar panels – or the cost of replacement (and disposal) of batteries and their toxic chemicals?” Olsen’s lights are powered by a simple 12V supply direct from the mains – and as the lights have been overwhelmingly installed on private property, the power required is a “gift” from the property owner. But what is the cost of that power? LEDs don’t take a lot: the 100mm lights draw just 8W and the 200mm 12W. Given the fact that they are on for only three hours per day and then only on school days (around 205 days per year), the maximum electricity cost (including the controller and GPS receiver for accurate timekeeping) is just 92c per annum for the 100mm lights and $1.38 for the 200mm version. Mr Olsen is pushing for the RTA to use mains power where possible – and points out that many 40km/h signs have 230V power lines directly overhead! Lights cost We mentioned at the outset that the Government’s school zone lights cost more – a whole lot more – than Peter Olsen’s lights. Through a series of 14  Silicon Chip press releases, the RTA (the previous Government’s department which has now become the RMS) has muddied the water significantly. Peter calls it “dirty tricks”. Peter Olsen offers his lights to schools for $1400 each – installed. He urges schools to obtain local sponsorship, which in the main has been very successful – Rotary clubs sponsor many of them. The RTA’s own figures reveal a cost to the community of $58,125 each for the lights installed during the last term of the previous government. ($46.5M for 800 signs). That covered 400 school zones, less than 4% of the 11,000 school zones in the state. The new government has budgeted $17 million for the installation of lights over four years. By June 2015 it expects to have 1390 school zones equipped with their lights, around 700 more than when it took office. That amounts to $24,285 per zone – but still only covers 13% of school zones. That $17M could pay for Peter Olsen’s $1,400 lights at over 6,000 school zones instead of just 700. Reliability The RTA claims their light design, with back-to-base monitoring of faults, is essential for safety. In fact, they claimed “it alerts the RTA to any problems immediately” and “is essential to ensure our children remain safe”. In an apparent direct attack on Peter Olsen’s much simpler (but demonstrably more reliable design), they said “we cannot install potentially usafe, unreliable and infrequently monitored systems when it is our children we are trying to protect.” What they don’t explain, as Mr Olsen points out on his website, is why many sets of their lights, with back-to-base monitoring, have been out of action with faults for up to a week at a time. The Olsen lights are not back-tobase monitored. He maintains that with literally hundreds of parents and children (not to mention school staff) passing by the lights every day, the RMS would be very quickly be notified of any fault. But so far, there hasn’t been a breakdown. His lights have been 100% reliable, versus the RTA’s 98.2%. How long does installation take? It has taken an average two years from the time a school requests RTA lights until the time they are installed – and then only if the location meets the RTA’s quite specific requirements. The time it takes for the Olsen lights is usually less than two weeks – and that’s for any school that asks for them. He installed four sets of lights at Burraneer Bay Public School within 3 days of the recent accident that left a 6-year-old boy critically injured. He funded those lights himself, after hearing that the school had been begging the RTA/RMS for lights for nearly two years. The electronics is fully selfcontained apart from the off-unit 12V DC plugpack supply. It all fits into a small IP65 box which can easily be mounted on the back of the sign. siliconchip.com.au The main location difference (apart from obvious design) is that the Olsen lights need to be installed on private property – earlier lights installed by Olsen on public property were ripped down by the RTA. Effectiveness Without policing and/or speed cameras installed, flashing lights are not the panacea we’d like to think they were. But ANY reduction in vehicle speed through school zones is worthwhile. Surveys reveal the RTA lights show an average 4.3km/h reduction in vehicle speed. Olsen’s lights showed an average 6.3km/h reduction – almost 50% better. The lights also allow drivers to avoid unnecessary fines, especially on days such as “pupil free” days when school zones are still in operation. What’s in the designs? The RTA issued very specific requirements for tenderers to meet for their lights, including solar power where possible and having radio backto-base monitoring. Their lights are housed in a large box attached to the back of the signs or the mounting poles. Originally the electronics merely powered alternately-flashing sets of lights but more recent designs also flash an annulus of red LEDs around the ‘40’ (ie, 40km/h) in the centre of the sign. Olsen’s design is much smaller – and much simpler – than the RMS’s. Based on a PICAXE microcontroller, it (and its GPS receiver) fits into a small IP65 box which can be mounted on the back of the sign or off it. There are two basic parts to it: first there is the time and date-keeping, which ensures that it turns the lights on and off at the right time of day on school days only. The controller is preprogrammed with school and public holiday dates four years in advance, which is as far ahead as the dates are gazetted. The second part of the design is the actual switching on and off of the lights, which is a simple task for the PICAXE microcontroller. Unlike the RTA’s lights, which simply alternate, Mr Olsen’s lights operate in a much more eye-catching strobe mode. A side benefit is that it halves the power consumption. As anyone who has used a PICAXE microcontroller (and SILICON CHIP projects have used plenty!) will attest, reprogramming is a very quick and easy task, although no changes to the actual code have been necessary in the six years that Mr Olsen’s lights have been operating. He simply has to upload new The electronics consist mainly of the PICAXE chip which drives Mosfets which in turn control the high-brightness LEDs in the sign. A 433MHz receiver (top of PCB) allows “ground level” reprogramming, while the large “box” on the right side is the GPS receiver which is used as a time reference. siliconchip.com.au holiday dates every four years using a short-range transmitter. He does that when he attends the site for routine preventative maintenance. Because the Olsen design is powered by 12V DC, there is no need for a power supply inside it – further contributing to reliability due to less heat. The GPS unit incorporated into the Olsen design means that its timekeeping is 100% accurate. Unlike the RMS lights, it does not rely on any radio control nor does it have back-to-base fault monitoring. The future? In the past, the road and traffic authorities have been particularly dogmatic about the Olsen signs being inferior, potentially unsafe and so on. They apparently haven’t quite declared the signs illegal but have skirted around the subject with implied warnings. He goes to some length on his website to explain the difference between proscribed traffic signs (which are the sole province of the authorities) and his signs. The result appears to be some form of “tolerance” between those authorities and his signs. This may also have something to do with a change of Government in NSW and also the change of the department itself. Peter Olsen has obviously been a thorn in the side of the RTA/RMS, but along the way has attracted some heavy-hitter supporters in the media – radio 2GB’s Alan Jones and Chris Smith, for example, have interviewed Peter many times. He’s also attracted sponsorship for his signs from unlikely sources – a large legal firm, for example. He’s quick to point out that they would hardly get involved if his signs were illegal. He is still offering his flashing school zone signs to any school who wants them – and while the school has to pay for them to be installed, it’s dramatically less than the community has to pay for the “approved” signs. There’s a page on his website containing all the documents needed to order signs. Contact www.schoolzonelights. com.au or phone Peter Olsen on 0414 538 404 or (02) 9599 1811 for more information – or to order signs for your SC local school! July 2012  15