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A few decades ago the jurisdiction where I lived had an official number of minutes after which, if it had not changed, a traffic light would be considered broken. It was permissible to proceed with caution through the intersection at that point. I'm sure I've got the wording wrong but that was the basic concept. I remember because I got within a few seconds a few times but never got to try it out.
As a lifelong motorcyclist none of those sensors are sensitive enough to read a motorcycle I've put my kickstand down and banged the sensor to no avail, I'd give them one cycle and if they pass me up I just go when it's clear and figure I could explain it to the cop as sport bikes don't like to sit and idle they overheat relatively quickly
 
As a lifelong motorcyclist none of those sensors are sensitive enough to read a motorcycle I've put my kickstand down and banged the sensor to no avail, I'd give them one cycle and if they pass me up I just go when it's clear and figure I could explain it to the cop as sport bikes don't like to sit and idle they overheat relatively quickly
I've done that a lot. A bicyclist once told me he carried a steel tire pump and would roll it across the ground to get a sensor to trip if no one pulled up behind him.
 
I think every stop light out there should have a camera on them so you all can pay your fines and support the city or town you are in. Hell linwood only has about nine of them and it brings in 11%of their annual budget.
Just think how much they would make if every traffic light had a camera.
 
If I remember correctly, those sensors are calibrated to only read maybe 1,000-2,000 pounds of mass to indicate a vehicle, and not as low as 150lbs (the average cyclist and bicycle) :rolleyes: I don't think they're calibrated to read even 500 pounds (the weight of the average motorcycle rider and motorcycle).. also.. in places like downtown Salem, the lights are not connected to road sensors, they are timed. If you can hit 25mph within the block, you may be able to hit the next green that shifts from red from the green that you left... unless of course, there are people ahead of you that's already waiting for the light...


Edit. I often, maybe not always but often enough.. see vehicles stopped a few feet away from the sensor pads before the crosswalks to the point that they aren't even registering vehicles at the intersection and thus the lights stays red too long :rolleyes: most times, it's because people are under the assumption that you gotta be 1 car length away from the crosswalk to be "safe" :rolleyes:
 
I think every stop light out there should have a camera on them so you all can pay your fines and support the city or town you are in. Hell linwood only has about nine of them and it brings in 11%of their annual budget.
Just think how much they would make if every traffic light had a camera.
Sure, and cops shouldn't need warrants to conduct a search. We'd save so much time and money that way. :rolleyes:
 
If I remember correctly, those sensors are calibrated to only read maybe 1,000-2,000 pounds of mass to indicate a vehicle, and not as low as 150lbs (the average cyclist and bicycle) :rolleyes: I don't think they're calibrated to read even 500 pounds (the weight of the average motorcycle rider and motorcycle).. also.. in places like downtown Salem, the lights are not connected to road sensors, they are timed. If you can hit 25mph within the block, you may be able to hit the next green that shifts from red from the green that you left... unless of course, there are people ahead of you that's already waiting for the light...


Edit. I often, maybe not always but often enough.. see vehicles stopped a few feet away from the sensor pads before the crosswalks to the point that they aren't even registering vehicles at the intersection and thus the lights stays red too long :rolleyes: most times, it's because people are under the assumption that you gotta be 1 car length away from the crosswalk to be "safe" :rolleyes:
I believe that the sensors aren't weight activated. A local to me street I drive frequently had the sensors installed. A day or two before you see they have cut circles for the sensors. Then they were installed and grooves sealed with tar. They hadn't been activated yet when a week or three later good old PBOT decided to resurface the street. They ground the old surface off, :rolleyes: tearing up a good portion of the heavy copper wires that were laid in the grooves. Good JOB PBOT!! :( So then, weeks later? Months? New grooves were cut in the new surface and presumably more copper wires were laid and sealed in with tar.
The signals at that intersection, NE Prescott and 82nd Ave, DON'T have traffic actuated lights! EXCEPT, for the left turn lights on 82nd. You can be there waiting on Prescott for a minute, or so, with no traffic coming though on 82nd.

I'm going to presume that the copper wires detect metal mass. I've read somewhere that they were working on making those sensors work for bicycles. As a matter of fact, if you come to potland, at some intersections, you will see a small white bicycle stencil painted at a place on the circle with the actuator under it. Presumable at a place that is more sensitive to less metal mass. Just the other day I saw a bicycle in a left turn lane and the left turn light worked for them. But you have ask yourself, did this intersection have operating traffic actuated signals? Because there ARE intersection all over town that DON'T have traffic actuated signals. Even though they have the box there to hold the electronics.
 
I think some are as I've had to wait through multiple light changes on my motorcycle.

Usually after one change, a car comes along and triggers it, but I have been known to just go after the first light change I had to wait through.

Jack
 
I think some are as I've had to wait through multiple light changes on my motorcycle.

Usually after one change, a car comes along and triggers it, but I have been known to just go after the first light change I had to wait through.

Jack
That would tick me-off!

And RE: My post above. There are intersections all over potland that have the sensors but they're not funtional.
 
I think some are as I've had to wait through multiple light changes on my motorcycle.

Usually after one change, a car comes along and triggers it, but I have been known to just go after the first light change I had to wait through.

Jack
By far the most common detectors are use inductive loops - what we commonly call magnetic sensors. A buried pressure sensor would be expensive and unreliable in comparison.

 
A traffic signal is an electro/mechanical device with the primary purpose of safely assigning the right of way...preventing or reducing the severity of accidents.
Adding a signal at an unsignalized intersection will increase delay by periodically stopping the primary flow.
Most modern signals have optical sensors.
 
Really a lack of discussion here on cameras. They seem to work exceedingly well. Go ahead, test it out.
I've been out of the business for almost 10years. Cameras were becoming standard for signal control and data gathering. Resolution was kept low for privacy reasons.
Not at all like on the cop shows where they track a vehicle across LA by signal cameras.
Remember the outrage about red light cameras? If signal cameras were that sharp, we'd be making them targets.
 
Regarding my post about waiting at a traffic light on my bike, this is not in Portland but Happy Valley(for one) at 174th and Sunnyside Road and one down in Keizer, can't remember the name of the cross road on 214.

I don't do Portland.

Jack
 
As a Traffic Signal Tech.....

I find this discussion to be......interesting.....
Why is that? If you're a tech, you probably know all about them. My issue is having the big silver box that would presumably be for the circuitry/electronics that activate the signal for optimal traffic flow. Potland doesn't seem to give a bubble gum about traffic flow? Or repairing roads.
 
Why is that? If you're a tech, you probably know all about them. My issue is having the big silver box that would presumably be for the circuitry/electronics that activate the signal for optimal traffic flow. Potland doesn't seem to give a bubble gum about traffic flow? Or repairing roads.
Seeing as how I'm on this forum, I'm probably right of center.....
And seeing as how I work on traffic signals, I obviously am a government employee.
Furthermore, being on the left coast, well....
Would it surprise you if I told you that the traffic signals being annoying may be tied to the bureaucracy that manages them?
No kidding, I could write a 400 page book outlining the incompetence, inefficiencies, ineptitude, politicization, special interests, grift, etc that is basically at the core of why, in many areas, traffic signals seem to be ineffective.

Hint: look at what your local government agency/office communicates as their priorities. Being on the left coast you'll hear things like "bicycles" and "vision zero" or "transit". Did they say they care about you? No, they didn't.

As a traffic signal tech, myself and my coworkers truly care that things function correctly, but the people who control the purse strings are revolving door bureaucrats looking to pad their resumes with a bunch of "change" instead of "maintenance". When I worked for Seattle, they actually thought that when drivers complained, that meant they were on the right track.
Now I work for a better city, we care, but we are so short staffed that we can't even keep up with the car crashes destroying our equipment, let alone go out and ensure that the "big silver box" is efficiently handling traffic demand.

Do you know how much worse my job has become since the big push for the liberalization of drug use? Just at one intersection we've had to replace the "big silver box" 3 times in 10 months. Each time, that box is $35k, not including labor. No insurance and typically the driver that caused the accident runs.

Oh, BTW, we should have 6 signal techs, we have 2, and he's ready to retire leaving me to deal with several knock downs a week, sometimes 4 a day, by myself.

I'd explain to you what's going on inside the big silver box, but it'd probably just frustrate you further to learn that there's good equipment inside being neglected.

But don't worry, your city probably still fully funds art projects and drag queen story time at the local library, so there's that to be grateful for.

I'm sorry that the big silver box frustrates you.

I'd love to "Make Traffic Signals Great Again" but City Council cares more about "inclusivity" and bicyclists.....
 
Seeing as how I'm on this forum, I'm probably right of center.....
And seeing as how I work on traffic signals, I obviously am a government employee.
Furthermore, being on the left coast, well....
Would it surprise you if I told you that the traffic signals being annoying may be tied to the bureaucracy that manages them?
No kidding, I could write a 400 page book outlining the incompetence, inefficiencies, ineptitude, politicization, special interests, grift, etc that is basically at the core of why, in many areas, traffic signals seem to be ineffective.

Hint: look at what your local government agency/office communicates as their priorities. Being on the left coast you'll hear things like "bicycles" and "vision zero" or "transit". Did they say they care about you? No, they didn't.

As a traffic signal tech, myself and my coworkers truly care that things function correctly, but the people who control the purse strings are revolving door bureaucrats looking to pad their resumes with a bunch of "change" instead of "maintenance". When I worked for Seattle, they actually thought that when drivers complained, that meant they were on the right track.
Now I work for a better city, we care, but we are so short staffed that we can't even keep up with the car crashes destroying our equipment, let alone go out and ensure that the "big silver box" is efficiently handling traffic demand.

Do you know how much worse my job has become since the big push for the liberalization of drug use? Just at one intersection we've had to replace the "big silver box" 3 times in 10 months. Each time, that box is $35k, not including labor. No insurance and typically the driver that caused the accident runs.

Oh, BTW, we should have 6 signal techs, we have 2, and he's ready to retire leaving me to deal with several knock downs a week, sometimes 4 a day, by myself.

I'd explain to you what's going on inside the big silver box, but it'd probably just frustrate you further to learn that there's good equipment inside being neglected.

But don't worry, your city probably still fully funds art projects and drag queen story time at the local library, so there's that to be grateful for.

I'm sorry that the big silver box frustrates you.

I'd love to "Make Traffic Signals Great Again" but City Council cares more about "inclusivity" and bicyclists.....
Abolish traffic lights. Make physical signs great again :s0064:
 

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