It may sound like a stage direction from Star Trek: The Musical, but plans to "rephase" London's traffic lights have been unveiled by transport czars. In the days following his election in May, Boris Johnson demanded an improvement to traffic flow, and transport commish Peter Hendy has authored a report that finds adding a mere two seconds onto each cycle of traffic lights could drastically reduce congestion. The adjustments are already underway, and around......

Transport for London has published a report revealing that congestion in the city is as bad as it was before the introduction of the C-charge. Though 21% less traffic (amounting to 70,000 cars) enters the zone compared to 2002, a "decreasing level of road space" owing to roadworks and traffic calming measures means that jams are just as lengthy. The western extension, already under review, has seen 30,000 fewer vehicles daily. Despite seemingly not......

What's the Tokyo Look, then? Simpering ads for mascara featuring hot young Japanese models batting their lids while riding the Bullet train? Middle-aged American men crooning bad karaoke to their doe-eyed young companions? Nope. The Tokyo look is inspired by that city's Shibuya district, which offers diagonal pedestrian crossing at busy junctions. Oxford Circus, whose crosstown traffic makes it so hard to get through, may adopt the same system under a new proposal. Currently,......