Fort Worth buses will soon be outfitted with traffic signal changers

Scott Doyle, says:

Sounds pretty lame. Why the hell is it so important that kids get home from school 5 minutes quicker? Wonder how much fuel would actually be saved per bus?

Pavel Lishin, says:

So how long before people start breaking into the buses to steal these magical devices?

James Scott, says:

I wouldn't imagine the idea is for the lights to change immediately, as you would expect for a fire truck. I'm sure the regular time would be given for the yellow->red light transition, so you would never have cars having to watch for buses and slam on their breaks.

Now - the problem I do see is that cars are going to try and jump in line behind the buses to ride in their wake so to speak to try and beat all the lights - now that sounds like a good idea!

Pavel Lishin, says:

What do you mean, watch for a bus? Just watch the light. The lights won't switch instantly, I imagine, and a bus won't just barrel through an intersection.

James Scott, says:

I'm sure the lights will change when the bus gets near them, but I don't think they're going to get any crazy massive car pile-ups because the lights all of a sudden changed when a bus got near. Logic would only dictate that the lights will only change after giving everyone ample enough time with a yellow light before changing to red. Obviously, logic doesn't always follow with city programs. However, this isn't Dallas we're talking about, so I'd have to say their safe.

Either way, I think it's an interesting experiment if nothing else - it may encourage more people to use public transportation if it means getting to your destination more quickly.

Scott Doyle, says:

Oh, heh, had another article about schools open and presumed it was school buses. Me sho shorry.

Regardless, what the hell gives them priority? Severely doubt this will drastically change travel time on buses. At least, not to the point where someone who'd normally be fine with a car thinks "Oh, wow, I could save 5 minutes on the bus thanks to this...but still take half an hour longer to get anywhere I need to go. Thanks, Ft. Worth!"

Still gonna have to hit bus stops regularly, etc, and I'm sure not every light will automagically change for 'em...surely there's synchronization at specific intersections that supersede a freakin' bus coming through.

Just sounds ridiculous.

Pavel Lishin, says:

I'd like to see how this plays out. It takes forever to get anywhere on a bus nowadays, especially if you let the DART website plan your trip. This could actually make them usable.

Scott Doyle, says:

David, according to the spiffy diagram on the FWST article page, it's optical (pretty small, btw, needs easily legible font):

<img src="http://media.star-telegram.com/smedia/2008/05/26/04/32-388958-320395.standalone.prod_affiliate.58.jpg">

Scott Doyle, says:

In your defense, RTFA doesn't necessarily apply since the chart's never mentioned in the article (simply displayed alongside). =p

And momzilla, I'm not quite convinced this is something that's going to cause a spike in bus passengers, especially since it seems like more of a fuel efficiency decision than anything. It's quite different than a train crossing, imo - trains can't stop as easily as over-the-road vehicles.

Pavel Lishin, says:

There have been rumors that flicking your brights at the correct frequency will trigger detectors. I've actually seen someone's brights flicker, and the light quickly change to green, but the flickering was too fast to be manual - they must have installed something.

Then again it was like 3 am, and I was probably just hallucinating.

John McClelland, says:

I still want the flying cars I was promised as a kid. It is 2008 after all!

Jesus Valadez, says:

Scott: "Oh, wow, I could save 5 minutes on the bus thanks to this...but still take half an hour longer to get anywhere I need to go. Thanks, Ft. Worth!"

If you have ever gotten on DART or the T, you would know that 5 minutes can make a huge difference between getting home 30 minutes to an hour later. Most people have connecting trips and while most of us do plan to have enough time to catch the next bus, delays happen and we sometimes miss the bus by a minute. Which makes us actually late to our designation by 30-60 minutes since we need to wait for the next one.

Scott Doyle, says:

But Jesus, if each bus you need to ride is equipped with such technology...would there really be much of a difference?

Point is that the bus will still take a ridiculously long time compared to your own vehicle. I've mapped out my personal route to work here in Dallas (www.dart.org for those unaware) - it's 6 miles away, and it would take half an hour longer by bus each way.

That's an hour a day, Jesus. Considering I sleep 7 of the 24, work 8 of them, etc...an hour is precious to me. Even if the buses darting through intersections without stopping saved 10 minutes each way...we're still talking 20 minutes longer one way, without the convenience of a vehicle at lunch time (there's nothing within walking distance aside from our downstairs cafeteria, and it leaves entirely too much to be desired).

So, again, I'm not quite convinced this is going to motivate too many peeps to swap from their ride to the bus. I sincerely hope so, but I doubt it. I'd sooner rock a scooter than be stuck with the inconvenience (scooter's are pretty fun to ride, too).

Scott Doyle, says:

Fair enough, Clay. Guess I presumed they'd already figured out how to relatively stay on schedule with the signal system as-is.

But if all buses are equipped with changers, seems that universally removes one of multiple factors causing untimeliness...and likelihood of missing a connection wouldn't be reduced all that much.

Keep in mind, I'm just an internet person. I only go to Ft. Worth about twice a year and I'll probably never ride their buses - simply doesn't seem to add up.