Traffic lights rant

[72scoutman]

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

The trick is hard braking coming up to the light, worked all the time for me. Go faster then you should then brake hard as you hit the round sensor in the asphalt. Puts more force on the ground then just your weight tripping the light.

 

[Unicykle]

As a Traffic Signal Tech.....

I find this discussion to be......interesting.....

Then perhaps you have a logical reason why the lights on McLoughlin Boulevard are set for maximum traffic jam especially the last light before you drop down into Portland which creates a back up every single morning.Explain why the last 2 lights on tacoma blvd before the brand new sellwood bridge are set so between 7:30-9 am it take 25 minutes to get through even tho the bridge is clear.

The trick is hard braking coming up to the light, worked all the time for me. Go faster then you should then brake hard as you hit the round sensor in the asphalt. Puts more force on the ground then just your weight tripping the light.

I don't believe they work by weight they work by magnetics.

 

[made in china]

The trick is hard braking coming up to the light, worked all the time for me. Go faster then you should then brake hard as you hit the round sensor in the asphalt. Puts more force on the ground then just your weight tripping the light.

No traffic signal responds to weight or force anymore.
Those in pavement weight actuated sensors were being phased out in the 60's, and by the very early 80's almost all were torn out.

I remember driving around Phoenix as a little kid, you could hear the car driving over those old detectors right before going through the intersection.

 

[made in china]

Then perhaps you have a logical reason why the lights on McLoughlin Boulevard are set for maximum traffic jam especially the last light before you drop down into Portland which creates a back up every single morning.Explain why the last 2 lights on tacoma blvd before the brand new sellwood bridge are set so between 7:30-9 am it take 25 minutes to get through even tho the bridge is clear.

I don't believe they work by weight they work by magnetics.

Post 39

 

[Flopsweat]

The trick is hard braking coming up to the light, worked all the time for me. Go faster then you should then brake hard as you hit the round sensor in the asphalt. Puts more force on the ground then just your weight tripping the light.

Essentially none of them go by weight. If there is a sensor buried in the pavement, it most likely works on inductance. Your higher initial speed on entry of the coil may have produced a higher voltage potential (Faraday's law?), or the squatting of the front suspension may have brought the body of the car/motorcycle closer to the ground, where the coil is (inverse square of distance?). Please don't ask me to quote Ohm's Law, but I think I've got the basics.

You will hear people refer to weight sometimes, but they're talking about the amount of steel involved. They don't refer to it by mass or inductive potential for the same reason we call inductive sensors "magnetic sensors": it's simpler to remember, explain and understand. But they really seriously don't weigh the car.


Edit: @made in china beat me to it but I'm leaving it up. I spent too much time typing it.

 

[made in china]

Abolish traffic lights. Make physical signs great again

If we had room for roundabouts, but a whole new set of unhappy people begin complaining, which includes me as I generally despise roundabouts. And screw Europe.

 

[made in china]

Essentially none of them go by weight. If there is a sensor buried in the pavement, it most likely works on inductance. Your higher initial speed on entry of the coil may have produced a higher voltage potential (Faraday's law?), or the squatting of the front suspension may have brought the body of the car/motorcycle closer to the ground, where the coil is (inverse square of distance?). Please don't ask me to quote Ohm's Law, but I think I've got the basics.

You will hear people refer to weight sometimes, but they're talking about the amount of steel involved. They don't refer to it by mass or inductive potential for the same reason we call inductive sensors "magnetic sensors": it's simpler to remember, explain and understand. But they really seriously don't weigh the car.


Edit: @made in china beat me to it but I'm leaving it up. I spent too much time typing it.

Very accurate!

We also use video detection now, completely different dynamics with it's own set of issues.

Like sun glare, dirty lenses, fog, camera moved due to pole settling or unreported car vs. pole hit....

 

[Unicykle]

Post 39

So basically what you're saying is my assumptions are correct you are being instructed to time the lights improperly and our tax dollars are being used against us.

 

[made in china]

So basically what you're saying is my assumptions are correct you are being instructed to time the lights improperly and our tax dollars are being used against us.

Yes, specifically against you.

 

[72scoutman]

Essentially none of them go by weight. If there is a sensor buried in the pavement, it most likely works on inductance. Your higher initial speed on entry of the coil may have produced a higher voltage potential (Faraday's law?), or the squatting of the front suspension may have brought the body of the car/motorcycle closer to the ground, where the coil is (inverse square of distance?). Please don't ask me to quote Ohm's Law, but I think I've got the basics.

You will hear people refer to weight sometimes, but they're talking about the amount of steel involved. They don't refer to it by mass or inductive potential for the same reason we call inductive sensors "magnetic sensors": it's simpler to remember, explain and understand. But they really seriously don't weigh the car.


Edit: @made in china beat me to it but I'm leaving it up. I spent too much time typing it.

Hey call it what you will, I don't know how they operate but it worked for me......or at least I was convinced it did.

 

[72scoutman]

As a Traffic Signal Tech.....

I find this discussion to be......interesting.....

Congratulations you just walked right into being the most hated person on here.

 

[CamoDeafie]

Congratulations you just walked right into being the most hated person on here.

Wait until they find out someone is a literal ATF agent, not just one of their customers

 

[Flopsweat]

Congratulations you just walked right into being the most hated person on here.

It's not like he's a dentist...

 

[Unicykle]

Yes, specifically against you

I'm not attacking you I'm just looking for honest answers as to why the party who's crying about global warming thinks it's a good idea to burn 20% more fuel than if they did their job correctly

 

[Flopsweat]

I'm not attacking you I'm just looking for honest answers as to why the party who's crying about global warming thinks it's a good idea to burn 20% more fuel than if they did their job correctly

It's never been about the planet.

 

[72scoutman]

It's not like he's a dentist...

No but he makes you late for the dentist which means you have to reschedule six months out.

 

[made in china]

It's never been about the planet.

Seriously, give it a watch. We may not like Greta, but she is totally correct in this clip.

 

[made in china]

I'm not attacking you I'm just looking for honest answers as to why the party who's crying about global warming thinks it's a good idea to burn 20% more fuel than if they did their job correctly

One of the many annoying things about my job is that people who have a (usually legitimate) beef with the government will confront me to air out their grievances. And, it never seems to matter how much I agree with them, they almost always maintain an aggressive, dickhead attitude towards me.
I'm like Ron Swanson, I hate my employer as much as you do, maybe even more.

Whilst the idiots who consume your tax dollars and treat society like a post-graduate experiment sit nice and cozy in a climate controlled office while those of us in the rain next to traffic have to put up with people who are unable to comprehend that I can't help them.

Also, I want to make it very clear that the people you may see out in the street are not allowed to modify the signal timing, and the college educated engineers in their aforementioned comfy office certainly don't appreciate us working class people letting them know something isn't working correctly. I worked for Seattle DOT for nearly 15 years, and I can tell you that over 99% of the time, when I reported timing issues, I was ignored. The old school guys already knew to not even bother.

Which goes back to the fact we are so busy picking up after the damage an unhinged society is wreaking onto our equipment.

I don't know how it is in Oregon, but up here we have our hands full picking up after accidents, vandalism and copper theft..
No time to even look at operational issues.....

 

[Unicykle]

One of the many annoying things about my job is that people who have a (usually legitimate) beef with the government will confront me to air out their grievances. And, it never seems to matter how much I agree with them, they almost always maintain an aggressive, dickhead attitude towards me.
I'm like Ron Swanson, I hate my employer as much as you do, maybe even more.

Whilst the idiots who consume your tax dollars and treat society like a post-graduate experiment sit nice and cozy in a climate controlled office while those of us in the rain next to traffic have to put up with people who are unable to comprehend that I can't help them.

Also, I want to make it very clear that the people you may see out in the street are not allowed to modify the signal timing, and the college educated engineers in their aforementioned comfy office certainly don't appreciate us working class people letting them know something isn't working correctly. I worked for Seattle DOT for nearly 15 years, and I can tell you that over 99% of the time, when I reported timing issues, I was ignored. The old school guys already knew to not even bother.

Which goes back to the fact we are so busy picking up after the damage an unhinged society is wreaking onto our equipment.

I don't know how it is in Oregon, but up here we have our hands full picking up after accidents, vandalism and copper theft..
No time to even look at operational issues.....

I've sent emails to ODOT in the last couple years or any other state agency that may be involved Naming specific lights on specific main artery's that are blatantly obviously missed timed. My entire business is showing up to a problem site unseen, assessing the problem, assessing how to fix the problem and what it's going to cost to fix it and I've maintained a 4.75 star rating over nine years of business so I'm good at doing my job. The only response I ever got back was snarky about how I'm wrong and don't know what I'm talking about and they are right because they are intricately trained in how to weave baskets underwater and weld in space.

 

[Member 66129]

I just say, "oh no, ice - can't stop!" and then proceed through the intersection....