This is why I always took W Passyunk Ave coming home from work when I lived in South Philly. If you travelled at around 20-23mph, you'd hit green lights from the moment you got off the highway to the street you had to turn on. It was great, but since nobody knew about the concept you'd have a lot of people frequently stopped in the middle of the street or not moving at the right speed. I wish this was more common so it would be taught in driver's tests or something, that way people would drive slower in these areas and also get to where they need to go quickly.
Green Wave
11–20 of 56 posts
Re: Green Wave
#12Remember folks: lights timed for 40 are also timed for 80. /s
Re: Green Wave
#13To help pay for tuition, one summer I drove a university shuttle in the evenings after finishing my work-study job. At that time, the lights on Walnut and Chestnut streets in West Philly were set up with green waves. The best place to ride the wave was obviously at its tail, entering each intersection a little before the light would turn yellow. Traffic there was light-to-none, and its flow far smoother and safer than at the front, where there were usually drivers pointlessly fighting to maintain their positions. I would watch them all just up ahead of me, wastefully approaching each red light far too fast, braking hard until it turned green, then rapidly accelerating to the next, repeating this insane processes intersection after intersection for a dozen blocks at a time, like some sort of mobile psychology experiment gone wrong. Because I was naive, I thought poorly of Pennsylvania drivers.
Later I moved to SF and experienced the same thing on Franklin and Gough, and realized the phenomenon was probably fairly universal.
Green Waves could be a great thing, but there's still the unsolved problem of human beings behind the wheel.
Re: Green Wave
#14> In the UK, in 2009, it was revealed that the Department for Transport had previously discouraged green waves as they reduced fuel usage, and thus less revenue was raised from fuel taxes. Despite this government Webtag documents were only updated in 2011. It is still unclear if the economic appraisal software used to apply these guidelines has also been updated and if the new guidelines are being applied to new proj…
I wonder what would be the better pay-off on aggregate: more tax revenue from extra fuel use or -- presuming people get to where they need to be more efficiently -- more tax revenue from the increased productivity/consumerism? I wonder which is better in terms of pollution and other potential negatives? So, which is net cheapest? (My money's on green waves.)
Re: Green Wave
#15To help pay for tuition, one summer I drove a university shuttle in the evenings after finishing my work-study job. At that time, the lights on Walnut and Chestnut streets in West Philly were set up with green waves. The best place to ride the wave was obviously at its tail, entering each intersection a little before the light would turn yellow. Traffic there was light-to-none, and its flow far smoother and safer tha…
I think this phenomenon shows the importance of communicating to the drivers that a green wave system is in effect.
You can't really fault people for driving myopically if they don't have high level information.
Re: Green Wave
#16Remember folks: lights timed for 40 are also timed for 80. /s
I think the parent is referencing this:
I remember reading this quote more than 10 years ago and still occasionally think about how wrong it is.
Re: Green Wave
#17Taking Portland Ave and Park Ave are great in Minneapolis, but I agree about cars in the front speeding, slamming on their breaks for the red, the going again. I wonder if there should be a new sign for green waves, or maybe we could just make them more popular.
Re: Green Wave
#18My city has lights timed to ensure that signals turn red just before the wave of traffic reaches it. You can see the signals have antenna on them pointed at the next intersection.
It is infuriating on a level I can't describe. My guess is they are trying to reduce accidents or they are trying to make more tax money by getting people to burn more gasoline.
Re: Green Wave
#19The town where I live (in the Netherlands) has green waves for cyclists. It's lovely to experience and also a good way for the council to encourage this sustainable, healthy mode of transport.
That's really cool. Though it does seem to remove almost 50% of the benefits listed in this entry, but those seem to be focused on fuel-consuming vehicles rather than bikes.
Not having to waste your momentum is really, really nice on a bike. I always resent stop signs at the bottom of a hill.
Re: Green Wave
#20To help pay for tuition, one summer I drove a university shuttle in the evenings after finishing my work-study job. At that time, the lights on Walnut and Chestnut streets in West Philly were set up with green waves. The best place to ride the wave was obviously at its tail, entering each intersection a little before the light would turn yellow. Traffic there was light-to-none, and its flow far smoother and safer tha…
I think this phenomenon shows the importance of communicating to the drivers that a green wave system is in effect. You can't really fault people for driving myopically if they don't have high level information.
Agreed, I once had to tell an out of towner "just drive the speed limit, you'll get all green lights."