Interesting transportation things

[nito]

Understandable if you can’t (or don’t) want to run higher frequencies, but where are the poles running down the middle to provide support?

[M II A II R II K]

Right turn on red? With pedestrian deaths rising, US cities are considering bans

https://apnews.com/article/red-light...05f1844f486123

.....

- A dramatic rise in accidents killing or injuring pedestrians and bicyclists has led to a myriad of policy and infrastructure changes, but moves to ban right on red have drawn some of the most intense sentiments on both sides.

- The United States is one of few major countries that generally allow right turns on red. Concerned that cars idling at stop lights could compound an energy crisis, the U.S. government warned states in the 1970s that they could risk some federal funding should cities prohibit right on red, except in specific, clearly marked areas. Although another energy-conscious provision capping speed limits at 55 mph has long been abandoned, right on red has endured.

.....

[TowerDude]

Originally Posted by M II A II R II K

Right turn on red? With pedestrian deaths rising, US cities are considering bans

https://apnews.com/article/red-light...05f1844f486123

Ludicrous.

[Swede]

Originally Posted by M II A II R II K

Seoul’s Solution to ‘Hell Train’ Commutes? Standing Room Only Subway Carriages

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...n?srnd=citylab

Might I suggest building a parallel line or two?

[Swede]

Originally Posted by TowerDude

Ludicrous.

True. Right on Red is completely ludicrous. Obviously a bad idea from the start.

[texcolo]

A nine part podcast on Boston's Big Dig.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ9wEUKs4U4&t=2s

[M II A II R II K]

‘Unique in the world’: why does America have such terrible public transit?

https://www.theguardian.com/books/20...ca-jake-berman

.....

- A new book looks back at the mass transit histories of 23 major cities in both the US and Canada, detailing the routes to where we are today.

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[M II A II R II K]

Berlin’s Leading Party Proposes a Return of Urban Maglev Trains

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...n?srnd=citylab

.....

- The future of Berlin’s public transit could be trains that use magnetic-levitation propulsion technology, according to a plan launched this week. More likely is they will not. That couldn’t stop the city’s Christian Democrats — the largest party in Berlin’s ruling coalition — from proposing construction of a test track for driverless maglev trains, at an estimated cost of €80 million ($87.5 million). Should that succeed, the system might be rolled out across the city for both passengers and freight, its backers say. --- While the technology is rarely used for urban transit, maglev tracks could be built faster and more cheaply than any other alternative, the Christian Democrats say. Given how difficult many cities find securing funding for new public transit, the reaction in Berlin from passenger groups and sustainability advocates might come as a surprise — not applause but a collective eye-roll.

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[electricron]

Right on red by itself is not dangerous, because right on red in most if not all states is right on red "after stop." Too many US drivers do not come to a full stop before making the right on red, and fewer US drivers in the right lane look behind their right rear fender for bikes or pedestrians when making a right turn on green or red anyways, who should not be in the intersection on red anyways. Most drivers when making a right turn from the right lane are looking to the left, to the right, and straight ahead; few are looking backwards.

I suggest most European and Asian drivers approaching traffic circles or round-a-bouts do not look backwards either before turning. And they are not required to come to a full stop every time.

Much ado about nothing, once again.

[ssiguy]

Montreal has never allowed right turns on red lights although admittedly it has never stopped Montrealers from doing it. Most Montrealers spend their driving trying to negotiate the city's legendary potholes some of which as so deep that any other couple meters and you might find yourself in China.

[llamaorama]

GM is investing in iron nitride based permanent magnet technology for EV car motors. I wonder if that could indirectly lower the cost of maglev trains.

Regardless, I guess it’s the mode of transit that will always be just around the corner, never quite arriving.

[GlassCity]

I find the most dangerous aspect of right-on-red is when drivers begin the maneuver on red and are already halfway through when the light turns green at which point they accelerate while still looking left, unbothered by people who are now stepping out to cross the street on the walk signal.

[M II A II R II K]

• Video Link

[mrnyc]

i dk, flix bus seems to be doing great —




Greyhound bus stops are valuable assets. Here’s who’s cashing in on them

By Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN
8 minute read
Published 4:01 AM EST, Sun December 17, 2023

New York
CNN
—


You can’t get here from there. That’s the increasing problem facing around 60 million people who depend on intercity buses.

Intercity bus lines like Greyhound, Trailways and Megabus, an overlooked but essential part of America’s transportation system, carry twice the number of people who take Amtrak every year. But the whole network faces a growing crisis: Greyhound and other private companies’ bus terminals are rapidly closing around the country.

Houston, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Tampa, Louisville, Charlottesville, Portland, Oregon, and other downtown bus depots have shuttered in recent years. Bus terminals in major hubs like Chicago and Dallas are also set to close. Greyhound and other companies have relocated their stops far away from city centers, which are often inaccessible by public transit, switched to curbside service or eliminated routes altogether.


more:
https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/17/busin...ies/index.html

[mrnyc]

mesmerizing traffic on the 405:


https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cz7lI...RlODBiNWFlZA==

[SpongeG]

Originally Posted by M II A II R II K

Right turn on red? With pedestrian deaths rising, US cities are considering bans

https://apnews.com/article/red-light...05f1844f486123

in Vancouver many intersections have become that way no right turns allowed on a red light. With so many bike lanes too it makes sense, they are very hard to pay attention to from a driver's perspective and some bikers tend to ignore signs and lights and just go as they please.

[SpongeG]

• Video Link

[Busy Bee]

Cool

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

in Vancouver many intersections have become that way no right turns allowed on a red light. With so many bike lanes too it makes sense, they are very hard to pay attention to from a driver's perspective and some bikers tend to ignore signs and lights and just go as they please.

I don't see what cyclists have to do with this one? Banning right turn on red is meant to keep drivers from turning right through pedestrian crosswalks without looking, since that is the most common way pedestrians are injured by cars. Drivers attention gets split between looking for oncoming traffic and watching for pedestrians in the crosswalk. It's actually impossible to pay attention to both, since you have to look in opposite directions.

[Nouvellecosse]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

I don't see what cyclists have to do with this one? Banning right turn on red is meant to keep drivers from turning right through pedestrian crosswalks without looking, since that is the most common way pedestrians are injured by cars. Drivers attention gets split between looking for oncoming traffic and watching for pedestrians in the crosswalk. It's actually impossible to pay attention to both, since you have to look in opposite directions.

Bike lanes tend to be to the right of the main road lanes (between them and the sidewalk), and there are some intersections where there are bike signals in which bikes have the right of way while the main road lane has a red. So if people in the main road lane are turning right on red it can create conflict with cyclists going straight.