General Road and Highway Discussion

[ijmorlan]

Here's a blog post comparing how traffic signals are controlled in Toronto and in the Netherlands.

https://ontariotrafficman.wordpress.com/...ion-works/

It is truly amazing how bad our signals are. And I also mean locally within the region.

This is what happens when you only measure one metric, and a pointless one at that...basically, we measure LOS, which is how the signal operates at peak hour for cars only. And there is also only one playbook..."LOS < desired LOS, add lanes or convert to roundabout".

What’s weird is that they don’t even do a good job of optimizing LOS for cars. Look at all those 4-lane roads with no turn lanes (Union, Belmont, Westmount, …). They build lanes that aren’t needed, but omit the turn lanes that are required to get the benefit of the additional lanes (compared with a 2-lane road).

One comment I have about LOS: I think the issue is not with the metric itself, but with how it is used. The idea of grading how well motor traffic is served at an intersection is fine; what’s not fine is the idea that reducing from LOS A to LOS B because of an added bike lane is some sort of disaster that must be averted.