I live in very nice area of Colorado with minimal numbers of people driving. Yet the city manages to create traffic jams through poor traffic management policies. When I do have to get in a car, I find myself stopping for 30-120 seconds at almost every single traffic light. Trips across town typically take twice as long as there is any need for. A simple solution is roundabouts.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:UK_Roundabout_8_Cars.gif
The city has built a few roundabouts recently, and it has made a huge difference. I have two possible routes to work of equal distance (on those unpleasant occasions when I have to drive a car.) One has roundabouts and literally takes half as long.
The downside of roundabouts is that drivers have to pay attention and can’t text while they are driving. The upside is that people have to pay attention and can’t text while they drive. They also greatly reduce serious accidents, because there is only one direction of traffic flow through a roundabout, compared with eight directions at a typical traffic light.
How many times have you seen people speeding up when they see a yellow light? That is a recipe for disaster.