Buses to control lights

[GordonH]

If you pause and think, more efficient transit means more efficient use, which the ultimate goal is to help reduce traffic congestion and create better traffic flow, ultimately making things easier for emergency vehicles. No one is trying to say transit should be as or more important than emergency response - it’s just you saying it isn’t.

So disrupt what little traffic flow is in Kelowna, for those half full transit buses. Love it, sounds like well thought out plan. lol

[alanjh595]

If transit riders are getting to work late, very simple fix. Take an earlier bus, problem solved without disrupting all other commuters.

As much as I see the sarcasm in your comment and agree with it, the same could be said about those "car commuters" that are cutting it close to arrive at work on time.
Car commuters have the option to leave just 5 minutes earlier, so that they won't be late. Bus riders......not so much....Do bus riders have the luxury of being on the bus 5 minutes earlier?
Of course IF.......bus riders were to arrive 15 minutes earlier at their work place, they would have 10 whole minutes to enjoy a coffee and a fresh doughnut before starting work. I have been told that one can't bring a hot coffee on the bus with them but, I could be mistaken about that point.
As for interrupting traffic flow......what does that mean? One bus every 15 minutes is allowed preferential queue status? SO WHAT ? Get over it, there are far more important things than this.

[Grandan]

i do not take the bus, but i like the idea, buses should run on time as best as possibly for many reasons

so now the three people on the bus are far more important than the hundreds stuck at lights because someone decided the bus drivers can play god with traffic, they already dont have to wait when pulling back into traffic they just go doesnt matter if youre right beside them they just force their way in now they can control the lights as well

Right you are, the bus can sit there all day waiting for traffic to clear because the rights of hundreds of cars are way more important than a bus load of passengers! Clearly you have not a clue.

[Hassel99]

So disrupt what little traffic flow is in Kelowna, for those half full transit buses. Love it, sounds like well thought out plan. lol

Its not going to disrupt anything, What are you even talking about...
Your avatar is fitting.

[GordonH]

So disrupt what little traffic flow is in Kelowna, for those half full transit buses. Love it, sounds like well thought out plan. lol

Its not going to disrupt anything, What are you even talking about...
Your avatar is fitting.

Very simple, by changing/altering a lights (set timing) to accommodate the transit bus it will backup the other users of that light i.e other directions at that light. Times this at every traffic light being used, and snowball grows.
Currently if one travels at speed limit posted at beginning of a green light i.e Springfield, I rarely have to stop for red (in light to moderate traffic)
I've done this very regularly from Leckie to Richter (hitting no red lights), as soon as heavy traffic happens. It throws off that flow.
It works similarly on Harvey, it's all about getting the timing right.

[cv23]

Its not going to disrupt anything, What are you even talking about...

"Supposedly" many of our traffic lights are sequentially timed to maximize traffic flow. "Supposedly" many of our traffic lights are set with a timed length and interval depending on time of day to maximize traffic flow.
Just how does totally disrupting these efforts to maximize traffic flow in the city based on "supposedly" vast amounts of research and actual collected data by allowing a bus with less than ten riders on it do anything positive for maximizing traffic flow for the majority of road users?
What data has BC Transit presented to the COK and BC Highways to show that allowing buses to disrupt the engineered flow is beneficial to the majority of road users.
There is a large difference between the odd disruption of traffic flow by an emergency vehicle, such as ambulance or fire truck, and the near constant disruption caused by numerous buses every hour.

[TJSmith]

So disrupt what little traffic flow is in Kelowna, for those half full transit buses. Love it, sounds like well thought out plan. lol

Its not going to disrupt anything, What are you even talking about...
Your avatar is fitting.

Very simple, by changing/altering a lights (set timing) to accommodate the transit bus it will backup the other users of that light i.e other directions at that light. Times this at every traffic light being used, and snowball grows.
Currently if one travels at speed limit posted at beginning of a green light i.e Springfield, I rarely have to stop for red (in light to moderate traffic)
I've done this very regularly from Leckie to Richter (hitting no red lights), as soon as heavy traffic happens. It throws off that flow.
It works similarly on Harvey, it's all about getting the timing right.

It will also back up traffic traveling on the intersecting road which will include backing up other buses.

This is a bad idea.

[LTD]

[quote
Right you are, the bus can sit there all day waiting for traffic to clear because the rights of hundreds of cars are way more important than a bus load of passengers! Clearly you have not a clue.

yes allowing busses to mess with the flow of traffic to move the three or four people on the bus is completely logical and im clueless that's a good one kettle. the only ones that should have any input on traffic lights are emergency vehicles definitely not some of the ignorant bus drivers I have seen on the road

[alanjh595]

The individual "bus driver" may not have any control of the lights, rather the bus has a sending unit that the light would receive and change accordingly. The last thing anyone wants is for a human to be in control.
They then would be subjects of abuse and possible assaults, on the other hand if the bus has control........what are you going to do? Kick it in the bumper?

[Urban Cowboy]

Just stay behind a bus and you're golden

Yeah up until the bus boots through a light he's turned green, then a few yards further on brings the whole lane to a stop while picking up a passenger.

I could maybe go along with this for Hwy 97 where the bus stops have appropriate pull outs, but in many areas of town the buses are responsible for backing up a lane of traffic.

Buses are not an emergency vehicle so based on that alone I don't feel this is a good idea.

[Urban Cowboy]

I agree, emergency vehicles sure thing.... public transit shouldn't need this device (it's not an emergency).

Why does it need to be an emergency?

The better question is why do the buses need to be able to mess with light timing, when large metropolitan areas such as Toronto managed to operate a huge transit system quite adequately without such an ability?

It's bad enough these transit driver clowns seem to always find a bus stop that doesn't have a pullout, to basically park at while they do whatever, blocking a lane in the process.

[MAPearce]

GordonH wrote:
If transit riders are getting to work late, very simple fix. Take an earlier bus, problem solved without disrupting all other commuters.

Nope ... Not simple at all ..

a few years back , we lived in the 4100 block of Lakeshore rd. I work near the mall and start at 6:30 am . to get there I had to take two busses , the #1 and the #8.

The earliest #1 Left the Mission exchange at 6:01 am .. Problem is , it had just 7 minutes to get to the Mission Park mall so I could get the #8 that left that exchange by 6:08 am .. If everything went well , which was VERY rare , I'd get to work by 6:32 am .
Nothing I could do about that because that was the first bus .

Sorry Gordo , there is NO fix.

[MAPearce]

It's bad enough these transit driver clowns seem to always find a bus stop that doesn't have a pullout, to basically park at while they do whatever, blocking a lane in the process.

That's rich ....Of all the bus stops I have used , the only ones are at KGH , and transit exchanges .

[GordonH]

GordonH wrote:
If transit riders are getting to work late, very simple fix. Take an earlier bus, problem solved without disrupting all other commuters.

Nope ... Not simple at all ..

a few years back , we lived in the 4100 block of Lakeshore rd. I work near the mall and start at 6:30 am . to get there I had to take two busses , the #1 and the #8.

The earliest #1 Left the Mission exchange at 6:01 am .. Problem is , it had just 7 minutes to get to the Mission Park mall so I could get the #8 that left that exchange by 6:08 am .. If everything went well , which was VERY rare , I'd get to work by 6:32 am .
Nothing I could do about that because that was the first bus .

Sorry Gordo , there is NO fix.

Sorry, I've never had job were taking transit was even a possible option.

[Urban Cowboy]

In your example MAPearce it strikes me as more of a scheduling issue, than something which will be magically fixed, by buses being endowed with more power.

What happens if two buses arrive at the same light, one going east/west, while the other is moving north/south?

Do they duel it out and the losers passengers simply don't make their connections?