The parking/driving thing, not the recycling one.

As for the rest of the Bay Area, I skinny you’d find anything close to a tithe of NYCs illegally parked and stopped vehicles. In my town you’d find as close to zero as makes no difference, as would be the case in most others I spend time in.

I wanted to see whether the lights were being used effectively to let the motor-vehicle traffic flow without stopping, and what potential causes for slowdowns are.

On the one hand yes, a double parked truck which restricts the avenue to two lanes, does cause a build up: more flow is coming in than going out. But then there are some less obvious things: cars changing lanes, cars taking a right turn having to wait for pedestrians, and delinquent pedestrians.