While on the subject of highway driving, I *desperately* need the entire driving public to understand the difference between these two signs please and thank you.
@TechConnectify can’t wait for a Conextras on zipper merges
@sass Hot take - the only way we're gonna make zipper merges work is if the stop telling people which lane ends.
If a sign just said "Caution: Lane Reduction in Three Miles" we could force people to take turns.
But saying "Left lane ends" means planners will plan, they get over, then they're annoyed at the people who didn't plan, they don't let them in, yadda yadda.
@TechConnectify @sass @TransitBiker Or do like they do in NY and put up signs that say “alternate merge.”
@AlliFlowers @sass @TransitBiker Sure, but still - you can't let people in on which lane is ending. Otherwise people will understandably think "why didn't these people get in line back when they had the chance" and not let the latecomers in.
It needs to be a surprise to get people to actually cooperate.
@TechConnectify @AlliFlowers @sass ooo, I know! “Lanes merge” and instead of the “ending lane” pointing into the “continuing lane”, make it more of a converging fork? The merged single lane then is a bit wider for a stretch to allow people to figure out spacing. This could also allow vehicles like semi trucks to merge more easily. Converging fork? Did I just invent a roadway term? 😲
@TransitBiker @TechConnectify @AlliFlowers @sass
Or use dynamic signage to change the lane which has priority every so often.
The symmetric variant creates a confusing situation sadly, where no one has right of way, so each single merge is a more confusing negotiation than it is today.
@robryk @TransitBiker @TechConnectify @sass Gadz! Maybe we just need more courteous drivers.
@AlliFlowers @TransitBiker @TechConnectify @sass
The issue I'm trying to point out is not solved at all by courtesy. Courtesy doesn't make others' behaviour more predictable (in fact often it makes it less predictable). Clear rules that can be evaluated by every participant usually do.
Sadly, we actually want both lanes to move forward (so "lane A always has priority" doesn't really work) and "every second car is from a different lane unless one lane is empty" is not easy to evaluate (because the other lane being empty is poorly defined and because this requires drivers to keep track of which lane goes now).
@AlliFlowers @TransitBiker @TechConnectify @sass
Sadly(?), I'm nearly a dozen megameters away.
@robryk @TransitBiker @TechConnectify @sass You’ll just have to take my word on it then.
@AlliFlowers @robryk @TechConnectify @sass my girlfriend has family in upstate New York and I have driven up that way and also up into Vermont many times. Not sure I’ve ever seen such a thing? I have seen the ramp gates on the tappan zee, though!
@TransitBiker @robryk @TechConnectify @sass They don’t have them in upstate. Just in the city burb area like Orange and Richland counties.
@AlliFlowers @robryk @TechConnectify @sass Ah, ok. I’ve only done the GWB a few times and the verzano even fewer & didn’t see them, though it’s been several years. On our way to Vermont a few times we’ve actively avoided the GWB. Better to cross at Beacon & use the taconic & 90 or 87/7. Maybe they’ll add them around Albany at some point? I do think that the converging fork could work really well on high volume roads like the GSP, pa turnpike, and 95/1!
@robryk @TransitBiker @TechConnectify @sass Y’all need to drive in NY and see how well it works.