Comments on: We’re All Traffic Experts Now

By: Grant Johnson, PE, PTOE

Grant Johnson, PE, PTOE — Tue, 26 May 2009 17:32:56 +0000

“It should be said that I’m of the opinion that, particularly in some local jurisdictions, community residents might actually have a better idea of how to control their streets than engineers working with standardized approaches; and that, too often, streets are merely viewed as sewers of a sort”

You seem to be of the opinion then, that higher learning on this subject is irrelevant, and the opinions of people who have put no thought into the need for standardization should be put on par with those who have studied it and figured a lot of things out. The anecdotal accounts of typical drivers counts, for sure, but like you said, it can go both ways to criticize good traffic engineering with their personal bad experience, and it can also tout ideas that have little desired effect. Like the accidents that still happen no matter how much traffic calming is installed. Teenage boys speed for fun, and teenage girls take their eyes off the road. How’s that for biased anecdotals?

By: DavidM

DavidM — Sat, 23 May 2009 00:03:39 +0000

Here in Los Angeles ramp metering does seem to do its job well and a broken one at rush hour will result in a completely messed up right lane. However, one feature that would improve them is if their default was to green instead of to red. Once a car passes through and trips the sensor, it would then begin metering following cars. This would eliminate the need to stop when you are the only car on the ramp and prevent the wasted time, gas, and wear on the car of an uneeded stop and hard acceleration. They would continue to meter until there is no passing cars for a minute or so and then revert to green for the next comer.

By: Bossi

Bossi — Thu, 21 May 2009 01:13:51 +0000

Once again, I’m inclined to agree with you 100%. Even after having learned all about the mathematics behind ramp metering, I’m still amazed to read report after report at how well it can work. Of course, one of the primary concerns with it is the capacity for ramps to handle longer queues — an element that must be considered with any such study. However, another issue that’s been raised (and one I partly agree with as a citizen, myself) is that ramp metering “punishes” motorists living nearer to their destinations (those closer to a CBD) and “rewards” those living further away (the more far-flung sprawl). Is that something we — engineers, planners, and the general public — want to encourage? That’s to each his own.

I can also testify as to the eagerness with which the citizenry will offer their own suggestions, which is not inherently bad except when the citizen is blind to any other considerations. Just as anyone who’s familiar with project management knows that someone’s pet project is almost always doomed to failure, such “pet ideas” are often ill-conceived and reflect only a singular viewpoint. I tend to consider citizens to be our eyes and ears of the roadway, being more than capable to at least spot when/where something’s not working out. It doesn’t take an experienced utility engineer to spot that a sewer line is backing up. While they may not know what exactly is wrong, I take in citizen’s concerns as an indication that something isn’t right.

This could be equated to someone visiting their doctor: the patient can recognise that they have symptoms (that’s what brought them there in the first place) and they may even have a couple ideas to what it may be. Just as a doctor provides a more accurate diagnoses that pinpoints the issues at hand, an engineer takes the citizen’s reported symptoms & identifies the real issue at hand. Similarly, just as you don’t tackle a serious disease with off the shelf medication, engineers are well aware that targeting the root cause of the problem is far more effective than merely addressing the symptoms.

By: Yokota Fritz

Yokota Fritz — Wed, 20 May 2009 19:32:24 +0000

another example of a limited perspective occurs in meetings calling for neighborhood traffic calming. You might calm or limit that traffic on _your_ street, but all of the neighboring streets now have that traffic. You’ve just moved the problem over to an adjacent street and have possibly made it worse for the entire system.

Several people living along the propose high speed rail route along the San Francisco Peninsula also have this limited perspective. They don’t see that HSR won’t really increase the movement of people (much) while decreasing traffic on neighboring I-280, Highway 101, local arterials and the airports.