Red Light Camera News UPDATE on Columbia ceasing more RLC. IT WAS LIKELY BECAUSE OF THE LONGER AMBERS!
UPDATE on Columbia ceasing more RLC. IT WAS LIKELY BECAUSE OF THE LONGER AMBERS!
Special thanks to Matt Hay of www.wrongonred.comfor this heads up!
(update: Ban the Cams mistakenly used the .org on the end of wrondonred. The .org is ATS FRONT Group site. Our apoligize for this and to Matt).
Ban the cams on 11/20/2011 posted a 11/18/2011 article on Columbia, MO HALTING more RLC installs.
or http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2011/11/18/blah-blah/
The "claim" of the scamera side is that is was.
Quote: "Those intersections didn't yield enough violations to justify cameras.
That might indicate that the red-light cameras already installed have caused drivers to be cautious throughout the city, St. Romaine said. "I think it's had a spill-over effect into the rest of Columbia."
THE REALITY IS THE AMBER WAS LENGHTENED AT MANY SR in Columbia, MO! THAT WAS THE LIKELY "Spillover" EFFECT.
IT IS THE AMBER EFFECT!
ONE LOCATION MENTIONED IN http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2011/01/14/traffic-light-cameras-columbia-q-and-assistant-city-manager-tony-st-romaine/ was Vandiver Drive and Range Line. That INTERSECTION according to mapquest is likely a STATE ROAD. Its number is Route 763! http://mapq.st/thVoQ9
http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2011/jun/24/yellow-lights-give-back-a-little-time/
Yellow lights give back a little time
MoDOT says motorists might not even notice.
STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
Columbia Daily Tribune Friday, June 24, 2011
A statewide plan to add a bit more time to yellow lights at some 2,000 traffic signals already is being implemented in Mid-Missouri.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported today that the Missouri Department of Transportation will slightly lengthen the yellow-light timing at many signals, hoping that adding a few fractions of a second might reduce accidents. The timing increases should take place by the end of the year.
Matt Myers, Central District traffic engineer for MoDOT, said the process already is under way in Columbia. Many signal lights already have been adjusted. The changes are occurring only at state-maintained intersections. Myers said the changes are so minor that motorists probably haven’t noticed.
The move comes after a national study encouraging engineers to give more weight to vehicle stopping distances at traffic signals.
“Most of Columbia on the state system has already been done,” Myers said. “We have not touched Stadium” Boulevard “by the mall because that’s being rebuilt.”
The signal adjustments are taking place on Stadium, most of Providence Road, College Avenue and the portion of Broadway that is state-maintained. Myers said MoDOT and the city of Columbia use the same formula for determining clearance time, which describes the amount of time needed for a vehicle to pass through an intersection when the traffic signal turns from green to yellow.
“It really isn’t going to make any difference when you come up to any of the lights,” he said. “They’ll all be basically the same.”
The clearance time used in Columbia is a minimum of four seconds. Some signals might have a clearance time of five seconds, he said. Most changes aren’t more than “a couple tenths of a second.” The adjustment also depends on the size and length of the intersection.
The Providence/Stadium intersection, for instance, “is quite a bit different from something that’s in downtown Columbia,” Myers said.
Don Hillis, MoDOT’s assistant chief engineer in Jefferson City, said the state previously based signal timing on the need to move as many cars as possible through an intersection. Many intervals were fairly uniform. But a recent study suggested intersections don’t lend themselves to a one-size-fits-all approach. Cars approach intersections at different speeds, and intersections have different dimensions, he said.
“There is no question that engineering, enforcement and education all play a role in reducing red-light running,” said Charles Territo of traffic camera vendor American Traffic Solutions.
When engineers set yellow-light signal timing, Territo said, they do so to optimize safety and traffic flow. But he said artificially lengthening the yellow-light time could backfire by encouraging drivers to drive faster through the intersection.
(Ban the Cams comment: KEEP UP THE LIES on the ambers TOKYO Charlie!)
A drop in traffic citations “is a good news story,” said Territo, the company’s vice president of communications, because “the goal of all programs is to change driver behavior.”
Myers said the changes are based on national guidelines from the Federal Highway Administration.
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