As I sat at a light this morning for 90 seconds with no cars in sight, I finally reached my breaking point and decided to actually start this thread which I've been meaning to start for five years.
Can we stop talking about robotic cars and just start with a god damn smart traffic light that knows you are the only car within sight and lets you go?
Some dude is on another thread claiming a computer now can do AGI, well then why in the hell is the light red with no cars in sight?
Screw your thread topic. If you think AI isn't used in modeling for traffic engineering then you should return your Princeton degree.
We already have technology better than traffic lights at intersections, they're called roundabouts.
Rojo, smart traffic lights have existed for many decades.
Perhaps there is a general aura of "not smart" that surrounds you.
I am surprised you didn’t run the red light. I am sure it crossed your mind.
Another typical L post from rojo!!
rojo wrote:
As I sat at a light this morning for 90 seconds with no cars in sight, I finally reached my breaking point and decided to actually start this thread which I've been meaning to start for five years.
Can we stop talking about robotic cars and just start with a god damn smart traffic light that knows you are the only car within sight and lets you go?
Some dude is on another thread claiming a computer now can do AGI, well then why in the hell is the light red with no cars in sight?
Where on Earth do you live where this hasn't been in place for decades? The road sensors detect the car and coordinate to change the light depending on the flow of traffic from the other directions. This is pre-2000 "tech." You must live in a real sh!thole.
90 seconds is nothing. I know of lights that stay red for much longer at 6am with no vehicles in sight. Probably setup based on rush hour traffic flow.
Smart stoplights is an oxymoron. It's a broken model.
Minnesota changed the law a few years ago so that motorcycles could proceed after stopping at red lights if there was no traffic because sensors often wouldn't pick them up.
Realistically though, sensors probably cost a few hundred dollars per intersection so depending on where you are located, they might just stick to timed intervals. I live in a quieter city neighborhood, but I'm right next to a fire station so they have sensors of the lights at that intersection. Unfortunately, its only the direction the fire trucks travel so to cross that intersection often involves long waits.
TBF though, I'm an adult and can patiently wait for 2 minutes.
Low volume intersection wrote:
TBF though, I'm an adult and can patiently wait for 2 minutes.
You don't understand, when you work as hard as rojo, those 2 minutes could mean...ummm...hmmmm....what does this guy do all day?
Next you’ll want a phone you can receive emails on!
Smart traffic lights have existed for a long time, dummy.
The roads look like a warzone despite the sky high taxation. I’m not even joking. Kyiv or Gaza probably has roads in better condition than Baltimore
rojo wrote:
As I sat at a light this morning for 90 seconds with no cars in sight, I finally reached my breaking point and decided to actually start this thread which I've been meaning to start for five years.
Can we stop talking about robotic cars and just start with a god damn smart traffic light that knows you are the only car within sight and lets you go?
Some dude is on another thread claiming a computer now can do AGI, well then why in the hell is the light red with no cars in sight?
I recognize that this is not in the spirit of LetsRun, but have you considered calling your local traffic authority and lodging a request that the trigger mechanism be fixed if it is broken, installed at this location if it does not exist, or set to a shorter time interval if a sensor light is cost prohibitive?
Be part of making the world a better place instead of acting like a spoiled child.
I occasionally treat a red light as a stop sign if nobody is present. I’ve never seen any trafic enforcement at all
The only place these don’t exist is where the government doesn’t want to spend the money.
Traffic signals serve a dual purpose. They are there both to keep people from smashing into each other at intersections, but also are "traffic calming" devices that are used to keep speeds down in residential and commercial areas. Lights are often timed to keep drivers from being able to get through multiple green lights to keep speeds down.
Rojo, please, please, please share the list of other topics you've been mulling the past five years.
Why do people think "AI" is necessary for simple things? Ordinary algorithms can adjust traffic lights based on traffic patterns.
Precious Roy wrote:
Traffic signals serve a dual purpose. They are there both to keep people from smashing into each other at intersections, but also are "traffic calming" devices that are used to keep speeds down in residential and commercial areas. Lights are often timed to keep drivers from being able to get through multiple green lights to keep speeds down.
I know this is a fact. We have that in our community. In the evenings (after business traffic and work traffic has ended), if you hit one green, the next light (which you can see), turns yellow insuring that you can't hit two in a row. They don't want people blowing down Mainstreet on a "green wave."
As for knowing my car is at the light and turning green, that is 25 year old tech. It is just a sensor cut into the street. You can see the tar lines in the pavement if you look. Not all intersections (all over the country) have that, but it has been around for decades at least.
Where I agree with Rojo is that there are times when it doesn't seem to be working, and for some reason the normal 10 second wait is like 90 seconds. That is frustrating because if it works 95% of the time, what the heck is going on at 10pm on a random Wednesday that causes it to suddenly stop working?