Fewer Americans bike to work despite new trails, lanes, bicycle share programs

Re:Fewer Americans bike to work despite new trails, lanes, b... by gregmac on Saturday January 05, 2019 @02:17AM (#18830440)

Keep in mind the traffic light system doesn't know if there's a pedestrian actually crossing the road, so my guess would be that it's a compromise between pedestrian safety and traffic efficiency. The longer you have an intersection stopped (especially with no pedestrians actively crossing) the more congestion (and annoyed drivers aka taxpayers) you get.

People don't always press the buttons, and not all intersections even have buttons. Even with a button press, there's no way to tell the difference between a jogger and a group of elderly people using walkers, so you have to assume the longest possible delay.

That said, there is a thing called a pedestrian scramble intersection [1] with a part of the cycle where all the traffic lights go red and all the walk signals turn on, allowing pedestrians to cross even diagonally. This is relatively rare, only being used at some of the busiest pedestrian intersections in some cities.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedestrian_scramble

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Re:Fewer Americans bike to work despite new trails, lanes, b... by stretchwithme on Sunday January 06, 2019 @08:25PM (#18842023)

Traffic signals need to get a whole lot smarter. If our cars can figure out how to drive, traffic lights should be able to see people and cars and make things much safer and more efficient.

Plus a traffic light's sensors wouldn't even moving around in the environment, so it's got to be that much easier. And they can be positioned all over an area, on both sides of obstacles. And they can be higher up for a better view.

The downside is that every intersection is different and drawing conclusions from all that information will be harder. And the stakes are higher with a system that directs everybody else.

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