I have a theory about why this happens and how to correct it, let me try to explain.
Look at this traffic map: http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist11/d11tmc/sdmap/cameras/merge.html It has cameras that take snapshots of traffic. My office is just to the right of the little green "56" sign on the right side of the map. Every morning I come north on the 5 (from the left) and merge at the merger of the 805 and 5. The 5 wraps around to the right of the 805, so the lanes of the 5 become the righthand lanes of the merged 805/5 freeway. Very quickly, the right two lanes disappear. The remaing rightmost lane becomes an exit-only lane for the 56 East, and the next lane from the right becomes and exit-only lane for Carmel Valley Road, immediately after the 56. Everyday, people drive this same commute. Everyday, the same people wait until the very last minute to move from the righthand lane to a through lane so they can continue north. My wife does it whenever she drives up there. Even after I told her what she was doing, she continued doing it. Mind you, I am not blaming my wife, or anyone else. Why not? Well, it occurred to me that, as software people, we spend a huge amount of time making systems usable. We learn from our mistakes. We conduct tests with customers and change things they don't understand. So I started to look at freeway signage and how people respond to it. What I found was fascinating. The people that fall into the category of the driver who can't merge quicky enough - almost everyone- waits to merge until they are right on top of the signs that direct them to do so- e.g. "This Lane Exits". And why not? We know, as designers, that people respond to visual cues. In the case of the signs, they only respond when they see the signs. Even with drivers who know the route and know where the signs are, they wait until they see the signs. The solution? Put a freaking sign farther down the freeway! So here's my question. In software, we spend oodles of time and money on simulations, QA, etc. Does anyone know if civil engineers spend any time simulating road projects for drivers to test whether the drivers will actually understand what they are supposed to do and do it well? Take this 805/5 project, for example. We're going to spend millions and millions of dollars on this thing. I would hope some genius at Caltrans has figured out that it would be useful to model possible solutions on a computer for users to test before laying thousands of tons of concrete on the actual project. And why not spend some money on some more freaking signs? Come on! >This one really chaps me... > >On a highway, there's a sign for an upcoming lane closure. People in >the "to be closed" lane don't merge into the open lanes. They wait >until they're 10 feet away from the lane closure and start signalling. >The last-minute merging, or course, leads to hella delays. > >Trying to be a sport, I get in the open lane somewhat early. As I'm >putting ahead slowly (as traffic has allready been slowed), there are >still the jackasses that zoom by in the "to be closed" lane -- thinking >they're saving themselves time, when it's actually just wasting everyone >else's. I'm fuming in the car, saying "If that dude eventually signals >to get in my lane, I'm not gonna let him in". > >But it's usually the car ahead of me that waves in 10 or so of these >asses, rewarding their obnoxious behavior. At this point, I'm about to pop. > >Eric > >Duane Boudreau wrote: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Discover CFTicket - The leading ColdFusion Help Desk and Trouble Ticket application http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=48 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:157615 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
