Image transcript:
- caption: “state DOTs presenting their groundbreaking solutions to traffic”
- image: stock photo of people in business attire holding up a poster together with the text “just one more lane bro”
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I love this logic.
How do we fix traffic in our city? Add another lane to the freeway. Okay, but to do that we’ll need to shut down 3 of the 4 existing lanes for traffic. During rush hour, of course. Yes, the traffic will be even worse during this time, but we’ll have the traffic fixed once the new lane opens up! We project that the construction will be finished in 5 years. But rest assured, it’ll take 10 years. And that new lane will be a toll lane, so nobody will even be using it.
Austin is an absolutely terrible city when it comes to this sort of nonsense.
Welcome to Texas.
Yep, it’s just one more reason on the ever-growing list. I’m getting out of this failed state as soon as I can.
My state’s DOT measures success by Vehicle Miles Traveled. The more driving people do, the better the DOT is doing. Sprawl? Line goes up! One more lane? Line goes up!
Honestly, that would explain a lot about why state DOTs are often so garbage. Sounds like a good example of Goodhart’s law:
When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure
In this case, trying to use VMT as a measure of success just means they’ll favor projects that needlessly sprawl, instead of more compact or transit-oriented options.
Hide the Pain Harold knows.
“This time it’s gonna work bro”
They are in the process of doing this in NJ and it’s infuriating. The approach to the Holland Tunnel, which is busy (understatement), they’re adding another lane, as though that will somehow be the solution. And I can say with some authority that anyone who drives the Turnpike Extension through Jersey City, majority of those people are going to continue on if their destination is Manhattan. It is an absolutely boneheaded move, with plenty of public opposition, but they are chugging along. Smells like corruption to me.
At the very least there are funds allocated and ground has broken building new train tunnels into NYC, but it’s bittersweet knowing billions are being wasted widening a road that doesn’t have a capacity problem so much as it has a 100 year old tunnel at its termination.
Hey, it’s Hide the pain Harold!
“We’ll just put roundabouts instead of stop lights, it’s how Europe does it.”
At least roundabouts are significantly safer than stop lights!
Serious question though.
How do people deal with exiting these roundbaouts in Europe?
Nobody in america uses them (edit in: turn signals) when exiting and im stuck there waiting for a spot to clear, or until someone decides to let me know theyre exiting. It doesnt help theyre the smallest roundabouts they could possibly make. Everyone behind me gets mad, but just entering is like playing a game of chicken.
Do people in europe have the same issue, and they’ve just learned to time it better / have more space between entrances and exits, or are people more courteous, and use their damn turn signals.?
We use our god damn turn signals.
What kinda neanderthal wouldn’t???
Thank you! I knew there was something we were missing here.
BMW and Audi drivers on this side of the pond. Hell, I almost walked in front of some sort of massive SUV last night because the fucker turned left, while blowing a stop sign, with no turn signal.
You just exit them? It’s the people getting onto a roundabout that have to wait.
Right, but do you use your turn signal to exit, or do you just exit?
Sry just realized it sounded like no one exits. Haha opps.
You should start indicating as you pass the exit before your exit.
Keldoran, I wish! If they even use signals over here, it’s as they are making the maneuver.
when driving on the left (eg UK), if you’re making an exit on the left side of the roundabout, you signal left and get in the left lane, if you’re going straight you don’t signal and can get in either lane, if you’re going right you signal right and get in the right lane, then signal left to exit
reverse for driving on the right (eg USA)
Do roundabouts flow both clockwise and counter clockwise in the UK? They only flow counter clockwise here, so you’d always exit to the right. The left lane is the inner most lane, and hence there’s nowhere to exit to. Unless you are one of the frequent rednecks that just go straight across in your massive truck/SUV.
perhaps I should have specified, my example was for left-driving traffic which travels clockwise in the UK. in the US its right driving traffic traveling widdershins on roundabouts.
assuming you approach the roundabout from the south, heading north, and you’re driving on the left, traffic travelling clockwise on the roundabout. the first exit (west) would be “left”, the second exit (north) would be straight on, the third exit (east) would be right, and the fourth exit (south) would be essentially a u-turn
as you approach, intending to turn east (left) you signal left, if youre intending to turn west (right) you’d signal right. Once you’re on the roundabout, if turning east (left) you’re already signaling left so you exit left, but turning west (which was right as you approached the roundabout but is now left from your POV) as you approach your exit you signal left to exit.
Ahh, I see what you mean now. I was thinking relative to the car as the absolute point, not relative to the interchange. Gotcha.
Think of it as just the same as exiting and entering like you would on the highway. When nobody’s coming you’re good to enter and when your exit comes up you leave. Not sure I would necessarily signal entering but signaling the exit helps other people know what you’re about to do.
You should always signal to exit a roundabout after you pass the exit before the one you want to take. If you want to take the first exit, signal before you enter the roundabout. If you want to take the second exit, signal after you pass the first exit etc.
If you’re taking an exit more than 180 degrees around the circle from the entrance, you should signal the other direction to show that you are staying on the roundabout and then signal to leave after you pass the exit before the one you want. E.g. if you’re in a country where you drive on the right and the roundabout is on a traditional crossroad ‘+’ and you want to take the third (left) or fourth (u turn) exit then you should indicate left to start with and then indicate right to exit.
Note that this is what you should do. You will see drivers not signalling correctly in any country with roundabouts. The most common error is probably not indicating at all when going straight.
People should be signalling before they leave, but I’ll give you a tip from a country that uses roundabouts.
Look at the front wheels. Where are the front wheels pointing?
The front wheels will tell you where they are going quicker and more often than people’s turn signals (which are unreliable).
Awesome! Thank you! What a great idea. I will try this next time.
I’ll give you a better tip for all traffic interactions; look at the driver not the car. You can see where they are looking and what they plan to do in almost all situations. You can even see if they aren’t looking and have no plan.
Roundabouts are actually safer and generally better for traffic flow.
The chode theory of urban planning
In the style of the “aliens” guy: “Roundabouts!”
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