Mike on Traffic

A stop sign for every corner????

As my high school drivers ed teacher Mr. Shrake told me - when in doubt, yield to the car on your right.   He also taught us to drive at or below the speed limit.  These are actually laws.  Pretty straightforward, yet there is a segment of our population who don't get it.  In neighborhoods, some cities have chosen to put two way stop control at alternating intersections (jargon:  basketweave) to bring more order.  St. Paul and Minneapolis jumped on this bandwagon about a decade ago.  John Maczko (St. Paul's city engineer) told me this had a positive effect right when they put up the signs.  Speeds dropped and crash rates dropped in the neighborhoods.  He also told me these gains were eroded after a decade - speeds and crashes have slowly climbed back to original rates. 

The city of Richfield did an about face on their stop sign policy.  They used to be hardcore against proliferating stop signs, but now they are implementing the basketweave through the city.   The news made the Star & Tribune (article).  The city did a year long trial and found motorists speeds were down 64% of the time and crashes were cut in half.  I hope they do a long term study.  It would be nice to know if the benefits are short lived or long lived.  If I head to bet my lucky silver dollar, I would lean towards a short term gain like St. Paul experienced.   I am a minimalist when it comes to traffic control, but I am willing to change my mind if Richfield has long term success.

LEED Certification - Greening Your Transportation Network

LEED Certification is a hot trend in the development/design world.  It is a system that defines how "green" your building is.  The town of Greensburg, KS is going so far as to require all new buildings be LEED "Platinum" as they rebuild their city after being devastated by a tornado.  WWW.BuildingGreen.com has put together a very interesting article titled Driving to Green Buildings:  The Transportation Energy Intensity of Buildings to open the "green" discussion to the design of our transportation system. 

Being LEED certified is becoming a differentiator in our market (Red Stag Supper Club uses their designation as "The First Leed-CI Registered Restaurant in MN" prominently in their marketing).  Several levels of government are also in the game of reducing their carbon footprint.  This is a good article if you are involved in government or you are a developer looking for another differentiator.

The strategies discussed are:

1. Increasing Development Density
2. Transit Availability and Access
3. Mixed Use and Access to Services
4. Parking Management
5. Walkability, Traffic Calming, and Site Design
6. Connectivity
7. Bicycle Accessibility

Why does a traffic signal start flashing "don't walk" at me before I can get across the street?

Drum roll please, I am about to reveal the secret of pedestrian signals....

I think most people understand the hand means stop and the "walking man" means go.  Most of the confusion comes up with the flashing hand.  Here is how it works - the flashing hand flashes at you long enough that if you stepped off the curb right when the indication went from walking man to flashing hand, you would have enough time to get across the street.  You don't need to panic if you are already crossing the street and the hand starts flashing.  Keep going. 

You aren't supposed to start crossing the street if the hand is flashing, but the reality is we time the signal generously  so most able bodied adults could get across in about half the flashing hand time.  The confusing part is the walking man is only up for 7 seconds.  This is enough time to get a crowd off of the curb to start their crossing, it is NOT enough time to get across most intersections.  Sorry, that is just the industry practice.  It would slow down the whole traffic signal operation if we increase the walking man time, which would add delay to the motorists.  As one old timer told me, we use the pedestrian indications to control the pedestrians so we can get the cars through the intersection more efficiently... no comment. 

A slight wrinkle is the "countdown timer."  It is a clock that starts when the flashing hand starts and indicates how much time is left before the hand goes solid and the traffic signal switches to yellow.  Several studies have shown these timers help pedestrians cross the street better.  It gives them more information to make their decision.   Unscientifically, I have noticed several motorists speed up when they see the timer going down to 0.

Lastly, if you push the button at the signal, it is going to give you the walking man indication pretty soon.  You don't have to hold the button down or push it 1,000 times (unless you are a kid who really likes the clicking sound the button makes).

School Safety Plan Part 7: Traffic Safety Education

This is the last installment of an 8 part series on School Safety Plans. 

Hopefully you have a liaison from the police department who works with your students. They are best able to command the respect of the students. Whether it is staff or the police officer, the students should be taught the following basics:

• Never assume a car is going to stop for you.
• “Stranger Danger” – avoiding adults they don’t know.
• Look both ways before stepping into a street.
• Never run out between cars.
• Cross streets at 90 degree angles at intersections.
• Use sidewalks and trails whenever available.
• Always wear a helmet when bicycling.
• Always wear a seatbelt in a car.
• Little kids must always be in a car seat.
• How push buttons and pedestrian indications work at a traffic signal.
• Your school’s specific traffic safety plan.

Telecommuting Webinar for HR Managers

Several cities in Minnesota require large office developments to prepare Travel Demand Management Plans.  I have talked about this a little bit in the past.  Here is a link for a seminar by Lorman Education Seminars titled "The Rising Cost of Commuting:  Strategies on Savings for Businesses and Employees."  It is  aimed at HR Managers.  Here are the benefits they claim:  There are things you can do at the local level 1) to improve your personal commuting situation, 2) to assist your fellow employees in improving their commuting situation, and 3) to contribute to the lowering of your overall tax burden for a wide variety of government services.  This is a great example of the private marketplace being proactive.  I hope they reach a lot of HR people.

School Safety Plan Part 6: Controlling Arrivals and Departures

This is an installment of an 8 part series on School Safety Plans.  The next portion will be posted next Monday. 

The most dangerous situation is to have students, cars, and buses all mixing in the same physical space. If possible, buses, vehicles, and pedestrians should be segregated. The next best thing is to control the school grounds so only two of the three modes can mix at a time. Developing a controlled procedure for student pick-ups and drop-offs is a key element of the overall traffic safety plan. Every effort should be made to avoid having kids entering a public street to enter or exit a school bus or a parent’s car. These maneuvers should happen in the low speed parking lot if at all possible. If the buses or vehicles need to park on a public street, they should park so they are loaded from the school grounds. The students should not walk across the street to get to the school bus door or passenger car door.

Traffic Signal Timing Cartoon

We're in the midst of a productivity sucking, holiday extravaganza.  Here is a little light humor my friend Bob sent to me, to aid your unproductivity.  It is from the site www.xkcd.com.  I am sharing this under their partial copyright (it looks legal for me to show this comic).

New Year's Resolution - Stay Off The Cell Phone

Ahhhh a brand new year.  Such potential.  I won't bore you with my list of resolutions, but I'll share one of them that may save your life.  I know it is hard to resist the siren song of the cell phone while you're driving.  I succumb to it occasionally.  I am being so much more productive talking and driving!  Here is the resolution - hang up the phone and drive.  Here are some interesting statistics from David Strayer's research group at the University of Utah:

1. You are 5.36 times more likely to be in a car crash while talking on the phone (real life example - my mother-in-law was rear-ended on a freeway last month by a college student on his cell phone).
2. Hands-free phone devices are just as dangerous as holding the phone to your ear.  It's the conversation that is the distracting part (notice how everyone stops talking in the car when you get in a tense, congested situation?  The person on the other end of the phone keeps talking).
3. When young adults are talking on the cell while driving, their reaction times are as slow as a senior citizen's.
4. People on cell phones drive the same as a person impaired with a 0.08 percent blood alcohol level (legally drunk in most states).

Wishing you a SAFE and happy new year - hang up and drive!