Managing traffic in small batch sizes

Ever so often, I get stuck in traffic and notice that the traffic lights at the intersection are on the blink. The cops are trying to do their best to keep it moving, but end up making things worse. Here is what is probably going wrong.

Unlike the programmed traffic lights, that rotate every 30 or 40 seconds, the cops try to clear one side of traffic completely before they switch directions. While this one side is moving, congestion builds up behind one of the other sides. Two-wheeler and auto rickshaws that try and pirate in on the wrong side of the road add to the problem. Pretty soon there is a grid lock involving a couple of intersections.

Another example of the road to hell being paved with good intentions. The cops are not trying to cause a jam. They are trying to direct traffic the best they can. But clearly, their best is not disciplined enough.

What can we do to avoid this mess? If the objective is to prevent grid locks, then we need to manage traffic movement in small batch sizes and the key is to keep traffic from all directions moving along nicely. An experiment worth trying is to issue timers to the traffic cops set to say 30 seconds. Every time the timer goes 'ding', they hit the reset button and switch sides. What about the cost of issuing so many timers? A small app on their smartphones shouldn't cost much at all, and there are cheap timers readily available that do not require electricity. They are called Egg Timers.