08-25-2017, 07:18 AM
(08-25-2017, 06:15 AM)Canard Wrote:(08-24-2017, 10:20 PM)ijmorlan Wrote: 3) The pedestrian buttons on both sides are in ridiculous locations. They should be placed so that bicyclists can easily hit them by just stopping and reaching out. On the north side there isn’t even pavement in front of the button. Or better yet, have the lights default to green for the trail, with motor vehicles triggering green lights using detectors in the road. Done right, this wouldn’t have to delay most motor traffic at all.
Not much of a delay, no, but a big hit in fuel consumption. Every time you ask a vehicle to decelerate and accelerate, you're throwing away energy. Even my hybrid isn't immune, and takes a hit, (just not as much as other vehicles). Yeah, it can recouperate much of the energy from deceleration, and reuse it for acceleration, but there are still losses in the system (that's physics). This is something I think the vast majority of the public don't understand. Driving at a slow, steady speed is the generally the most efficient. Everyone wants to floor it when the light goes green - that mentality has to change.
I said done right!
The speed limit there is 50km/h. It takes about 15s from when the red hand starts to flash to when traffic on University gets a green. 50km/h x 15s = 208m. So eastbound put detectors 208m west of the crossing, which means about 50m east of Seagram (also put detectors right at the crossing so nobody ever gets trapped). Westbound, put the detectors at the Phillip St. intersection and synchronize with the Phillip St. lights. Again, also put detectors right at the crossing, so nobody gets trapped.
Then put the same sort of limits on giving time to motor traffic as is currently done with trail traffic. In low-traffic circumstances, nobody has to wait, and in sufficiently high-traffic circumstances it reduces to the usual system of alternating between the two directions.
Whether both halves of the road go at the same time or if it is treated as two separate crossings is another issue. With the current not very large centre island it might be advisable to keep the two sides together, but I’m not sure.
Of course, to get good things like this you can’t just read manuals and do whatever they say.