On ramp lights

[Sivi70980]

So I get to work today and a co worker tells me he saw what I did on my way home last night. More and more of these stupid stop lights are on freeway on ramps to manage the flow or something? Anyways, I hate them and although I conform to 99% of driving laws (we all speed), these lights are first candidates for me to run. I believe all they do is make us burn more fuel to get up to speed in a shorter distance. Traffic was flowing around 65mph (60mph zone) so I really don't see why the light was even activated. So I come up to it, let off the gas going around 35mph or so, see the flow of traffic on the freeway, and then proceed to accelerate to 70ish to merge. The light happened to turn green just as I passed it so no harm no foul but it raises the question, how do you guys/gals/others feel about these on ramp lights?

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[Torched10]

I obey the law.youll get nailed for runnin a light,which here is 200bucks and points.i always worry that the guy behind me isn't going to stop.so I slow down and brake gradually.i think they do well as far as stopping traffic back ups.so I'm good with it.

 

[Zrussian13]

In az if there is no one in front of you it will go green as you pass it. So in traffic pulling up I stop but first in line I slow (just enough) then hit the gas..

 

[Sivi70980]

It's not like I'm running every metered ramp I see, and usually there are people in front of me stopping witch kills the issue of me or anyone else potentially running it. I haven't been pulled over in over 5 years or ticketed in 10+, like I said, I typically drive safe (no accidents in many years) and obey the rules. I get the purpose of metering flow but we all know the zipper merging theory is never practiced and making people stop mid way through the on ramp doesn't help it (merging) at all. I'll say 9 out of 10 times a metered ramp with free flowing traffic has zero slow downs from that point till I exit 9 miles down the road. Now when traffic is congested and it's metered, I'll say at least 5 out of 10 times there's another line formed on the end of the ramp because of failed zipper merging. So how is this metered flow supposed to make things better? @Briebee72 I'm genuinely asking and hope I don't come across any kind of way lol.

 

[SVTchris]

In Wisconsin, these ramp metering lights are on timers and are on during times when the DOT believes there to be potential congestion. They are not triggered by actual traffic counts in real time which means on a light traffic day, they may appear to be on for no reason. We can be ticketed for running it if it is red when cars are lined up but do turn green immediately if no one is waiting as you approach the light so you don't have to stop.

However, when these were put in 10 to 15 years ago, the Sheriff at the time didn't believe the lights did anything to relieve traffic congestion and publicly stated his department would not write a ticket to people disregarding the lights. I'm not sure what the current Sheriff thinks about it but I'm pretty sure its not a traffic enforcement priority.

 

[Sivi70980]

This is from the below link. Interesting although I still don't like it. It ranks up there with waiting for the last second to merge when a lane ends. It's supposedly better to go to the end and zipper in but instead it's always people trying to cut in line. Maybe works in the big picture but annoying af for the common driver.

Ramp metering reduces mainline congestion and overall delay, while increasing mobility through the freeway network and traffic throughput. Travel times, even when considering time in queue on the ramp, are generally reduced when ramp metering is implemented. Travel time reliability has become an important measure of ramp metering effectiveness. Many regions have experienced increased travel time reliability (reduced variations in day-to-day travel times) due to ramp metering.

https://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/fhwahop14020/sec1.htm

 

[Ed M]

What a wonderful opportunity to practice launching the car!

 

[Järn]

What a wonderful opportunity to practice launching the car!

dragstrip mode, 0 to 65...

 

[Copperhead73]

Always interesting to hear what is going on in the rest of the country.

We don't have this kind of shit in East TN. Hoping all the yankees moving here won't bring it with them along with high taxes. Happy to have them coming on down, but leave that BS at the door!

 

[Sivi70980]

Always interesting to hear what is going on in the rest of the country.

We don't have this kind of shit in East TN. Hoping all the yankees moving here won't bring it with them along with high taxes. Happy to have them coming on down, but leave that BS at the door!

Pros and cons to just about everywhere a human can live. I'm lucky to have a job that lets me see much of the world and different states. For instance, I'm not a foodie at all till I go down south lol.

Another reason this kind of stuff bothers me, other countries seem to do traffic better and/or worse depending, but the better I guess has less people on the road too. Also interesting to me how infrastructure is or isn't kept up. Germany's roads are amazing compared these in the PNW.

 

[Copperhead73]

Pros and cons to just about everywhere a human can live. I'm lucky to have a job that lets me see much of the world and different states. For instance, I'm not a foodie at all till I go down south lol.

Another reason this kind of stuff bothers me, other countries seem to do traffic better and/or worse depending, but the better I guess has less people on the road too. Also interesting to me how infrastructure is or isn't kept up. Germany's roads are amazing compared these in the PNW.

Some cultures are better at following rules than others, or are otherwise more orderly. That goes for different areas of the US, too!

We have a hard time with rules in parts of the South...double that for Appalachia! Lots of Scots/Irish influence

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