Well, we made it. I heard some horror stories about the trip that for many began on Tuesday. How about 7 1/2 hours to get from D.C. to New York City, a trip that usually takes about four hours? Yesterday’s rains made the Interstates and the back roads long, wet parking lots.
But now that we’ve arrived or that loved ones have made it in, or that others have confirmed that they got where they were going, we can relax until the big return, and that could be the worst of it.
Even though drivers have learned to vary the time they leave before the holiday, many still insist on coming back on Sunday, which becomes the busiest day of all. Maybe it’s the tryptophan that clouds our judgment but I’d have to think that Saturday would be a better bet.
Smart signals
We’ve all heard about roads where the traffic signals are timed so that you can catch every one of them green if you maintain a certain speed.
Of course, few of us have actually seen them in operation since the Nixon administration.
Over in Belgium researchers have developed a traffic management system that creates “green waves” where traffic goes unimpeded for extended periods of time.
The system uses sensors and computers to constantly evaluate the volume and speed of the traffic on a given road and then makes adjustments that will result in these “waves” of green lights.
The researchers have developed a system that relies on “self-organizing traffic lights.” They say the system relies purely on “local interactions between cars and traffic lights” to generate “flexible green waves on demand.”
For example, if the computer senses that there are a large number of cars waiting at a red light or that there are several cars approaching a red light, it will shorten the red cycle and turn it green.
It seems to make perfect sense, although it’s unclear what potentially negative impact this might have on the cross streets. Insofar as most cities are set up on grids, it would do no good to only make one road efficient at the expense of all the others that cross it.
Safety without signs
Speaking of traffic lights and in response to an earlier column, Albert writes: “I quite agree with you that there are too many traffic signals, and that fewer signals are likely to lead to fewer accidents and safer roads.
“Along a typical road, there are traffic signals, stop signs, warnings to slow down for school children, zebra crossings, speed limits, turn signs, warnings to watch out for animals, bus only lanes, HOV lanes, warnings to slow down, one way only signals and so on.
“How many signals/warnings can a good driver observe and not lose concentration on the road?
“In many developing countries where there are hardly any signals/warnings, there are far fewer accidents, as everyone is on the look out for danger. In this way, people feel safer when they are using busy roads. They do not assume that drivers will obey traffic signals or use their senses. They treat each driver as a mad person, andso take necessary precautions.”
Questions, comments, random musings? Write to [email protected].
