Q I am curious. Some shiny new antennae appeared recently, bolted to top of the light poles at the Miller Avenue/Bollinger Road intersection in West San Jose. Any idea what they are for? I figure if anybody would know who to ask, you would.

Corey Liu

San Jose

A This is one of the many antennae San Jose is installing across the city to enable remote monitoring and control of traffic signals. The $20 million synchronization program will set up a wireless communication network to control 30 percent of its signals not currently remotely accessible (the city has a little over 900 traffic lights), as well as to remotely monitor and control streetlights and speed radar display signs.

Here's more that will be done:

Install 36 miles of fiber optic communication.

Replace 785 signal controllers that are 20 years old with new advanced federal standard controllers and communication devices.

Add 141 traffic surveillance cameras city wide.

This will reduce vehicle travel time on local streets by 15 percent eliminating 840,000 hours of vehicle delay, and providing an annual delay savings of $50 million to drivers.

Reduce fuel consumption by 625,000 gallons, saving $1.5 million in fuel costs, reduce harmful vehicle emissions by 36 tons and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 21,000 tons.

And eliminate approximately 180

Q Recently, traffic from Murphy Avenue going east on Brokaw Road to get onto Interstate 880 in the morning slowed to a snail's pace. Traveling that 1.2 mile distance used to take 7-10 minutes on average; then it took 30-35 minutes to travel the same distance! Please, Mr. Roadshow, can you do something?

Irene Chan

San Jose

A There were some glitches that have been fixed. But I bring better news. San Jose recently installed an Adaptive Traffic Control Signal System along Brokaw from Automation to Ridder Park Drive. Once the Caltrans project to widen 880 and realign the ramps at Brokaw is completed next year, the signal project will include both ramp locations as well. This should accommodate traffic surges and adjust signal timing based on traffic demand.

Q More people turn left on Brokaw Road than go straight through towards Old Bayshore. It's a huge mess in the evening commute. Is it possible to turn the one left-turn lane and two straight lanes into two left-turn lanes and one straight lane?

Ricky Wong

A No, but the city has adjusted the signal timing at Brokaw and nearby Zanker Road for the afternoon commute, so that there is better clearing of southbound traffic in both the through lanes and the left turn lane.

Says-Jay-the-Signal-Man: "When there's heavy demand for the southbound turn onto eastbound Brokaw, it now gives the left green arrow twice in one cycle, instead of once, which was the case before. Also, the southbound through movement on Zanker now has more green time programmed, so that if there's demand, the southbound light will stay green longer."

These adjustments seem to have cleared the backup.

Q These stories about drivers inadvertently using their keys to unlock similar cars make me chuckle. It's really not possible to have unique keys in modern cars because we wouldn't want to pay for the cost of complex keying systems. Most modern cars have between five and seven tumblers and each has somewhere around five possible positions. This means that depending on the model of car there can be somewhere between 3,125 and around 80,000 possible combinations. Since any tumbler position that is close to another will likely work with a tumbler that is worn, or if you jiggle it properly, the number of unique keys drops substantially.

As your lock ages it is possible for the pins in the tumbler to get stuck opening up the number of keys that will turn the lock further. If you're talking about a high volume car like a Camry where over 300,000 were sold in the U.S. last year, there are potentially some 150 cars running around out there just from your same model year that your key is likely to fit and the number grows every year as everyone's lock wears.

Fortunately many modern cars combine a physical key with an electric transponder to start the vehicle and there are many more electronic combinations available. In such a car you might be able to enter the wrong car but it is extremely unlikely you would be able to start it.

Alex Dykes

Automotive Writer

A Whew. My beloved Prius should be safe!

Look for Gary Richards at www.facebook.com/mr.roadshow or contact him at mrroadshow@mercurynews.com or 408-920-5335.