it appears to be a VERY studied thing http://www.trafficforum.org/
tw On 5/14/05, Robert Munn <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > 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:5:157640 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
