MetaFilter posts tagged with traffic

Flying pigeon run over by Buick

concreteforest — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 22:30:23 -0800

With a forecast of 20 percent growth in sales throughout 2009, China is a fascinating example of a society grappling with the effects that the automobile brings. Personally, I'd stick with bikes for the city, guys - it seems more fun.

Portable bike lane projector.

erikvan — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 11:35:01 -0800

Lightlane builds lasers that shoot out from your bike onto the road, displaying a bike lane wherever you ride. Written about here and here.

NEW WAY OF DRIVING ALL GREEN

rageagainsttherobots — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 05:46:46 -0800

Scott Summit, a self-anointed solution engineer and life hacker, shows you how to beat the traffic system at its own game.

The Price of Anarchy

parudox — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 23:23:01 -0800

Braess' paradox and the price of anarchy [PDF]: "We had three tunnels in the city and one needed to be shut down. Bizarrely, we found that car volumes dropped. ... We discovered it was a case of Braess' paradox, which says that by taking away space in an urban area you can actually increase the flow of traffic, and, by implication, by adding extra capacity to a road network you can reduce overall performance." The Price of Anarchy in Transportation Networks is the paper mentioned in the first link — see that for maps of Boston, London, and Manhattan that show which roads were beneficial to block (individually) in a simulation. If you are interested in selfish networks and are not afraid of math, check out Selfish Routing and the Price of Anarchy (review) as well as this paper for some bounds on the price of anarchy.

Sign, Sign, everywhere a sign.

Mitheral — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 20:23:35 -0800

US Traffic & Road Sign Test. Five part, 30 questions each, multiple choice test on US road, highway and traffic signs. Results include inline scoring and explanation of each sign. The average for part 1 (the easiest) is only 82% and 15% of takers score less than 70%.

Traffic Scorecard

backseatpilot — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 13:23:06 -0800

The National Traffic Scorecard ranks the 100 most-congested metropolitan areas in the United States. Number one? Los Angeles, naturally. Click the "View All" links to get the full lists and a nice map. Then you can click on individual areas to get an extended description, local map, and some nice statistics.

Encyclopedia of Transportation Planning Strategies

salvia — Thu, 08 May 2008 21:04:26 -0800

Too much traffic? Can't find parking? Choking on smog? Worried about climate change? Gas prices too high, but you still have to drive? Send your city planner a link to the Online Encyclopedia of Transportation Demand Management strategies. The Victoria Transport Policy Institute was mentioned in a comment back in 2005, but not the encyclopedia, which is one of the most complete online transportation resources that I've run across lately.

Signs?

jaronson — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 18:15:24 -0800

The number of accidents at one intersection dropped by 95 percent , from 200 a year to about 10... "You can't deny the numbers," he added. "Half the world is eager to see what's going to happen with this program."

Apparently, people in India can handle it. (Surely you saw this on Reddit?)

Welcome to the UAE

growabrain — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 19:20:27 -0800

From Dubai: Go around twice if you’re happy (YT): Vincent Fichard and Matthew Jones put up fake construction signs around town to test the response of passing motorists

YES on Sound Transit, NO to RTID

kliuless — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 17:15:17 -0800

Proposition 1 - Sound Transit & RTID: Dan Savage is for it ("I want 50 miles of light rail so bad, I don’t give a shit if they pave 180 miles with baby mice," sorta), while the Sierra Club is against ("It wants to support the Sound Transit/light rail portion of the ballot issue, but not the Regional Transportation Improvement District part, which seeks more money to expand and repair roads and highways"). On November 6, voters in Washington's King, Pierce and Snohomish counties will decide.

Too many Mumbaikars in cars

miss lynnster — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 22:55:12 -0800

The Traffic Police of Mumbai (formerly Bombay, India), one of the most densely populated and traffic-ridden cities in the world, are becoming media savvy. They post billboards, answer traffic complaints sent via sms and have even started a scare campaign against drunk driving that places bloody drink coasters in bars. They are definitely taking their jobs seriously. And so far, some Mumbaikars seem pretty happy with their work.

His object all sublime / He will achieve in time

Smart Dalek — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 18:45:11 -0800

Court Decision, re: Fisher v. Lowe, Feb. 1999. Car ends up in man's yard. Man sues driver. Judge administers poetic justice. [via]

Traffic Control in Denmark

Wet Spot — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 17:18:55 -0800

The Danish Road Safety Council is a private association of authorities and national organisations in Denmark. The number of member organisations is currently 42. The Council has existed since 1935. The Council works to increase public road safety through information and traffic education. We aim for the public to gain knowledge and understanding of the aspects of road safety. The Council works to sustain road safe conduct by means of campaigns, consulting and the production of instruction blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.
This movie was made by the Danish Road Safety Council and aims to draw attention to speed signs and speed limits in Denmark. (embedded movie, nsfw) (direct movie link)

Bad choices, bad consequences.

gottabefunky — Sat, 08 Jul 2006 12:00:52 -0800

You're 18. You got your driver's license in February, and you just graduated from high school. Last Wednesday night you're zooming down Hwy 101 at 100 mph, racing another car, and you smash into the side of an SUV, killing all three people inside.Turns out two of them were Prince Tu’ipelehake and Princess Kaimana Aleamotu’a Tuku’aho of the Tonga royal family, the only royal monarchy left in the Pacific. Now an entire nation is is mourning and your bail is $3 million.

I'm kinda partial to roundabouts.

bigmusic — Wed, 03 May 2006 16:31:52 -0800

Advances in traffic management are slowly being recognized as superior to stoplights. (java, video, video)

New take on traffic calming

ObscureReferenceMan — Wed, 30 Nov 2005 15:16:58 -0800

Calm down. A new, humorous, attempt at "traffic calming". I know, I know, a lot of it was previously discussed. Some think it's a good idea (hey, we've even got some in my neighborhood!). But there are others who disagree. I never thought it would be such a heated topic! (or noteworthy by Wired, even.) Aaaah... the hell with it. Maybe the way to go is NO RULES.

Air Force

sarajflemming — Thu, 20 Oct 2005 13:49:02 -0800

With the Air Force One Pavilion opening at the Reagan Presidential Library this week, President Bush is coming to L.A. But that's not the big news. The big news is that the 405 freeway (one of 3 major arteries in this city) will be closed for four hours both tonight and tomorrow morning. During rush hour. More inside.

Traffic Calming

paulsc — Fri, 17 Jun 2005 18:09:00 -0800

Slow 'em down. "Traffic calming is the combination of mainly physical measures that reduce the negative effects of motor vehicle use, alter driver behavior and improve conditions for non-motorized street users." If you are a frequent pedestrian user of a residential street with high traffic volumes, or speeds, you may be interested in strategies and data from various community projects to alter traffic flow.

sigalert.com

mgkaelen — Sat, 12 Mar 2005 20:10:46 -0800

never get stuck on the 405 again? serving los angeles, san diego, san bernadino and riverside counties along with san francisco and miscellaneous cities throughout california, sigalert.com will give you up to the minute traffic information on almost any freeway in california, including average speeds, closed roads, detailed info re: traffic accidents, etc.
(if you're living in LA county, the only con is that it doesn't have information on the canyons...)

But ossifer, I was only...

soyjoy — Tue, 22 Feb 2005 08:16:00 -0800

"It is stand-up improv at its most creative, with an occasional James Bond-like tale or even a violent plot, all in search of that one shimmering, often elusive dream, the dismissed ticket." (Yes, I know, it's NYT... tell it to the judge, man.) Maybe some of these folks should've read the previous traffic court thread on MeFi, or... (More Inside)

Photo-Blocker

buriednexttoyou — Mon, 06 Dec 2004 16:46:59 -0800

Photo-Blocker - For those who are tired of obeying basic traffic laws. (via)

Round a about

Samuel Farrow — Wed, 08 Sep 2004 00:53:33 -0800

These images caused a great debate among my antipodean circle in London whether they are real or have been photoshopped. As far as we can gather it does exist. But it is surreal - and only in the UK surely would something like this be real.

movies from asia

mathowie — Mon, 24 May 2004 12:27:49 -0800

Pictures and movies from Southeast Asia. The gem of the site is "Traffic Ballet" (wmv file) on the movie page. The photo galleries are pretty good too.

from 60 to 0 in 6 seconds

mosspink — Wed, 07 Apr 2004 10:51:08 -0800

The Fast and the Frustrated. The city of Pleasanton, CA is about to install specially calibrated traffic lights which sense whether or not you are speeding. When speeding is detected, these traffic lights will change from green to yellow to red immediately, and will stay red for 10 to 30 seconds, all in an effort to stymie speeders.

Your call is important to us

digaman — Sat, 13 Mar 2004 08:51:04 -0800

The DOJ wants to tap your IMs, your email, your VOIP calls, and your Web browsing -- and they want you to pay for it. The Justice Department is seeking to expand its ability to monitor online traffic by forcing broadband providers to make their services "wiretap-friendly," and a petition filed with the FCC this week says you will foot the bill. Get ready for CALEA 2.0. "As a means of espionage, writs of assistance and general warrants are but puny instruments of tyranny and oppression when compared with wire tapping," the prescient Justice Brandeis observed in 1928.