This analog traffic signal was in use from the 1940s through the 1970s in Australia, eventually replaced by whatever it is they've got going there now (Koala bears on poles holding flash cards, we think). It's fantastic.
Instead of solid lights, the analog rotating signal shows you exactly how much time you've got left in a green or a red, allowing you to better time your "floor it, we can make it" so as to not run the light and get caught by the intersection cameras. It's an easy solution that can be rigged into current light schemes by putting a countdown number in each light instead of just a solid color. I need to patent this. [Infosthetics via Make via Boing Boing Gadgets]