Mike on Traffic

Left Turn Arrows Explained

Protected left turns (a signal indication with red arrow, yellow arrow, and green arrow) are less efficient than protected/permitted left turns (a signal indication with red circle, yellow circle, green circle, yellow arrow, and green arrow) because motorists can choose to turn left on a green circle if there is a gap in traffic at a protected/permitted signal indication.  Basically, more left turning vehicles can get through the intersection with protected/permitted phasing versus protected phasing.

So why do we have protected left turn phasing?  Some traffic engineers think they are safer, mainly because they don't trust motorists to judge an appropriate gap in traffic.  There is some validity to this theory at intersections with high speeds or poor sight lines (safety report).  The argument doesn't hold at flat intersections with a 30 mph speed limit.

As I previously wrote about (here), Mn/DOT is working on a hybrid with a flashing left arrow that could give us the best of both worlds.

Why Don't We Have More One Way Streets?

Pairs of one way streets carry more traffic then when those two roads each have traffic going in two directions.  There are less vehicles turning on the road and traffic signals can be timed to let larger platoons of traffic move through.  This is why traffic engineers were busy implementing one way streets in major downtown districts throughout the United States in the first half of the twentieth century.

The problem with one way pairs is they provide less access to the adjacent parcels.  They can also be less friendly to bicyclists and pedestrians because they carry larger platoons of automobile traffic.  That is why the City of Minneapolis will be converting Hennepin Avenue and 1st Avenue North from one-way streets to two-way streets.  Minneapolis' transportation plan (Access Minneapolis) also shows that the vast majority of one-way pairs need to remain to accommodate the traffic flow in and out of downtown.

Apprenticeship - Traffic Engineer/Planner with Spack Consulting

Traffic engineering/planning is a field with great long term potential – congestion isn’t going away.  Instead of getting a master’s degree to try to break into the field, consider spending six intense months in my office learning how to be a great traffic engineer/planner.  You’ll save $50,000, a year or more of your life, and you’ll learn the skills to land a full-time job.  This program isn’t an internship- it’s an old-fashioned apprenticeship.  You don’t get paid, you don’t do busywork, and you won’t be on your own.  This program isn’t for everyone.  If it were, it wouldn’t be worth much.  I intend to recruit two to five people to go through this program together. 

Here’s the program I am interested in creating:

1. Five hours a week of class/dialogue.
2. Twenty hours a week working on my projects.
3. Fifteen hours a week working on your projects.

At the end of the program, you’ll get a great recommendation letter (assuming you work hard) detailing the technical and business skills you have learned.  It is also possible I’ll ask one or more people to stay on. 

Boundaries for the program:

1. You must live in the Twin Cities.
2. Have access to a car (and a valid driver's license) – work project mileage will be paid.
3. You have to speak and write perfect English.
4. No smoking.
5. You must be smart, have good people skills, and be nice - with impeccable references to back this up.
6. I don’t care what your background is.  I care what you have done, and more importantly, how you have done it.
7. You must have a head for numbers, but be flexible.  We’ll be analyzing traffic, which is like analyzing water rushing through pipes except people in cars have free will where water molecules don’t (and sometimes we’ll analyze human beings walking or riding bikes).
8. It is the information age – you must be comfortable with computers.
   

Why work for Mike Spack?  Good question.  I am a traffic engineer with thirteen years of experience.  I created my own consulting firm in 2001 at the age of 28.  We have 140 clients, with about a 90% level of repeat business.  I teach part-time in the University of Minnesota’s civil engineering program.  I believe in the cutting edge – how many other traffic engineer bloggers are out there (see MikeOnTraffic.com).  I am a regular contributor to the Minnesota Real Estate Journal and U of MN Technology Transfer Newsletter.  I am a past president of the North Central Section of the Institute of Transportation Engineers and was also on ITE’s district board – I have lots of connections in the industry.

Why not do a traditional internship?  Another good question.  Because they don’t work very well in my experience (I had internships in college and I have hired interns).  The interns get dumped on with busywork.  The interns aren’t always motivated.  They don’t really get taught.  They are treated as low level factory workers.

So why no pay, you’ll be working on projects in which I may profit after all?  This is a program somewhere between a master’s degree (where you pay) and an internship (where I pay).  I don’t know where to strike the balance, so I’m going with free.  There is a chance I’ll pay a bonus if we make a lot of money, but this is going to take a lot of my time (kind of intimidating actually) where I won’t be making money.

How to apply – email me a resume.  Focus on your accomplishments (I don’t like resumes that merely prove you showed up, i.e. I graduated from this college).  Also, email me a report about what you had for breakfast yesterday and how you prepared it.

Some fine print - I reserve the right to cancel the program for any reason before July 13.  All participants (including me) will sign a NDA and work for hire agreement.  College degree helpful but not required (there is no degree required to be a transportation planner). This is not an accredited program (I know, shocking we didn’t get ABET approval).  We are not responsible for unclaimed luggage or broken bug shields.  You supply books, laptops, and your own food.  Sometimes I'll cook lunch and you can pretend it's delicious.  I’ll supply the coffee pot, grinder, beans, and water.

Key dates:

1. Deadline for applications: noon, July 6, 2009
2. Open house in my office by invitation only: July 9, 2009
3. Start date: July 20, 2009

Our office is at 3268 Xenwood Avenue South, St. Louis Park, MN 55416.  Our outdated (we are having them updated) websites are www.trafficdatainc.com and www.spackconsulting.com.  My email is mspack@spackconsulting.com. 

Please - no stalking or rude interruptions to my day.  The initial cut will be based entirely on the email submissions.

 

Top Ten Mistakes Developers Make with Traffic Issues

1. Assuming you can get a driveway or curb cut wherever you want.
2. Assuming you'll get a traffic signal at your development's main intersection.
3. Assuming a government agency will pay for the infrastructure (signals, turn lanes, medians, etc.) needed to get traffic smoothly in and out of your development.
4. Ignoring the traffic concerns of your neighbors.
5. Assuming one of your consultants (architect, landscape architect, civil engineer, traffic engineer) is designing a site plan that will have good internal traffic circulation.
6. Assuming your traffic engineer is a good public speaker and will represent you well in public hearings.
7. Assuming a traffic study can be done in a few days.
8. Assuming all traffic engineers are good at developing a phased mitigation plan that will protect the motoring public while considering your bottom line.
9. Using a consultant traffic engineer that is not respected by the public agencies who will be reviewing their traffic study.
10. Assuming traffic studies are straight science - many assumptions go into a traffic study and politics are often involved with traffic issues (politicians rarely question the size of a recommended sewer pipe, but they often have an opinion on traffic recommendations).

Congress for the New Urbanism Video Contest Winner

Congratulations to the team of First + Main Media and Paget Films for winning CNU's 2009 video contest with their film Built to Last (below).  I enjoyed the three minute movie very much.  Even though I am not a hard core New Urbanist, I guess I personally fit the profile (my kids walk to school, I walk to the office, and we walk to the coffee shop - all within three blocks of our house).

Traffic engineers are tasked with making the transportation system work for new developments.  An often overlooked component of our toolbox is reducing the amount of vehicle traffic generated by the development.  Maybe videos like this will get communities excited about trying to reduce their development traffic.  Some communities in the Twin Cities, notably Minneapolis and Eden Prairie, require Travel Demand Management Plans that require developers to implement strategies to attempt to reduce their vehicle traffic generation.