Twitter traffic helps actual traffic

Here and interesting short story from the Seattle PI:

When Michael Micheletti's car stalled in the center lane of Interstate 5, he documented his ordeal holding up traffic on the social networking site, Twitter.
The Shoreline designer told KING-TV that tweeting was his way of passing the time after calling for a tow truck. He didn't expect the quick help he got in response.
...More

I would probably do the same thing in his place.  If I'm stuck in a middle lane, and my car won't move, I suppose I would first call a tow truck, and then start tweeting about it.  I'm not about to get out of my car in the middle of freeway traffic; that's almost never a good idea.  And does it really justify calling 911?

Friends saw his Tweets, which they passed along, and pretty quickly the DOT notices and moves the guy before his tow truck gets there. 

I recall hearing on report once that every minute a lane of traffic is blocked causes 6 minutes of congestion.  Looks like Twitter saved a whole bunch of drivers a bunch of time.

Road Rage for Toddlers

My Mother tells the story of me as a child in the 70s.  Apparently I would line up all my cars and trucks across the living room and play "Gas Line."  I'm not sure how that game ended, though there may have been hostage negotiations and a downed helicopter in the desert.

I love the picture on these toy cars that I saw in Target.  It's awesome to see Road Rage in the toy department, that doesn't involve that idiot who parks their shopping cart in the middle of the aisle.

Those kids are sitting in the driveway, and with only two, they are stuck in traffic.  The kid in back is blaring his horn trying to get it to move, and the kid up front is grimacing with rage and trying to get moving.  Is he late for a job interview?  Is he about to miss a first play date because the morons on the road off camera DON'T KNOW HOW TO DRIVE!?!?!?!!?!?

It's nice to teach them teach the real world early.  What should these kids have to learn next?  Three Hour PowerPoint meeting? Obnoxious Homeowners' Association and the Illegal Flower?

Impaired Vision on the Road

Dust storms recently shut down I90 in Eastern Washington, near Moses Lake.  It looks like the road is now open.

MOSES LAKE, Wash. -- Strong winds that had whipped up dust and caused poor visibility in Eastern Washington have subsided, allowing authorities to reopen Interstate 90 between Moses Lake and Ritzville.
...More

Periodically, we hear about these conditions and the resulting 50+ car pile ups.  They've been known to happen on I-84 in northern Oregon, and in central California.  You get too much dust with too much wind, or you get too much fog, combined with people traveling too fast, following too closely, or just rounding a corner and suddenly encountering blinding conditions on the road and its a recipe for mayhem and insurance claims.

In my travels I've enoucountered some challenging conditions, but the worst was in the '93 or '94.  I was at the end of a long drive from New York to Helena, MT.  That last day I got my first taste of truly blinding rain near Gillette, WY.  The rain came down so hard, intense, and fast, that I could see only a few feet in front of the car. All I could do was slow to a crawl while the monster sized drops pounded the roof of my Subaru GL and look for a place to pull over.

The problem is you can't just stop, because you will get hit from behind.  And you can't really go on because of the danger.  So all I could do was crawl forward, try to follow the tail lights on the semi's in front of me, hope they don't screw up, and sneak down an exit to wait.  Fifteen minutes later, it was all clear, and I continued on my way.

I encountered the same type of rain in the mountains east of Bozeman, MT later that day, and again, followed a slow moving semi, watched the 10' of roadway lane marking, and eventually ended up in a rest stop (I think) until the rain again let up.

The amazing thing to me is that people kept going.  This wasn't the type of rain you can deal with by turning on the wipers; the blindness wasn't caused by an opaque windshield -- it was an opaque atmosphere in front over every vehicle. 

And yet people zipped on by. 

I know it makes me sound old to complain about the maniacs flooring it on the freeway, but this was genuinely scary blinding rain.  And that was back when I was younger and making decisions I might not make today.  And I still had the sense to get off the road.

I guess the points I take aware are:

1. Dust of the Interstate sucks.
2. Fog on the Interstate sucks.
3. Waterfalls of rain blocking everyone's view on the Interstate suck.
4. If you can't see more than 10', what they hell are you doing driving 30-60 mph?
5. Rain is loud.
   

Not only airplanes divert

I've had my share of flight delays. Sometimes they annoy me; most of the time I just shrug them off. Diversions, delays, random routes, and strange cities are just a normal part of flying for business.

My GF doesn't have as many flight issues as I do. She gets to deal with an entirely different mode of transit -- she rides the bus.

And today, is her first Guest Post on Cromely's World. So welcome her to the blog and maybe she'll share more stories in the future.



This morning I was waiting for the bus as usual on 1st Ave., on my way to work, when suddenly a helicopter was flying overhead.

I didn’t think much of it at first. I thought maybe it was a news copter reporting on traffic. But then I began to suspect something when the copter remained in position up above. I looked at the people around me, also waiting for the bus, and people walking across the street. They were all looking up, looking in wonderment at the copter just above us. I looked down the street to see if I could get a glimpse of what was happening. I couldn’t see.

I had a bad feeling about this.

My bus finally came, only about 5 minutes late (that’s pretty good!). I hopped on and the bus continued down 1st Ave on its regular route.

About 5 blocks along on my journey, my instincts were confirmed. The Federal building came into sight, and the whole block was shut down, guarded by police. Yellow caution tape lined the block.

The bus had to take an emergency re-route and leave 1st Ave, since we couldn’t get past the police barricade. Traffic was stopped. Some people opted to get off the bus and walk the rest of their journey. I considered it, since my office was only about a mile away, but decided to stay on the bus to see what would happen.

The bus turned onto 2nd Ave and drove a couple of blocks (with cars honking the entire way because the 60’ articulated bus I was riding took command of the road and disregarded the rest of the traffic flow) and turned back onto 1st again, after we had passed the mess around the Federal building. I got off at my usual stop, a block away from my office.

I still heard the copter overhead. Looking behind me, it looked like the flow of traffic was getting better, which indicated that the incident was over, and they were letting traffic through again. I walked into my office, only 15 minutes late (not bad, under the circumstances). I immediately booted up my computer and checked the news.

“Breaking Story: Suspicious package briefly shuts down street near the Federal building. A police bomb squad was called in to check out a suspicious package at the Federal Building in downtown Seattle Wednesday morning. Spokeswoman Renee Witt says federal police called at 6:30 a.m. Wednesday to report finding the package in a window well. Police closed First Ave. between Marion and Madison as a precaution. The bomb squad ultimately rendered the package safe at about 8 a.m. Police describe the package as a plastic bag containing a canvas bag.”

So, it wasn’t a sleeping bag again (like last year). But it may as well have been. On to work as usual.

You can read a little more about the incident here.

Where there's smoke, there's...Nothing

I was cruising up I-270 near St. Louis on Thursday. Suddenly I saw traffic slowing down around me. Brake lights came on and black smoke billowed up ahead.

I was torn between two reactions. First, "Wow. I hope no one's hurt." And second, "Wow. This might look really cool. I hope it's worth the traffic delay."

Oh, don't look at me like that. You know that thought crosses your mind, too.

So I pulled out my camera, snuck my hand through the wrist strap in case I had to drop it quickly, and began shooting picture blindly through the windshield as I negotiated the traffic.


Pretty interesting, right? It got more interesting when I realized the smoke was moving. We had a fire traveling down the interstate.

Did anyone call the police?

Did the driver know?

Do you have to pay an extra toll when haul fire?

Is there a fire shortage someplace and they are importing more?

Why not Fedex the fire?

But when I got closer, there was no fire.


It was just a lousy, old dump truck hauling coal and spewing half if load across the interstate.

Seriously, people. Cover your load. Don't tease us like that.

MSFT Expanding in Seattle

One reason I like to get first class upgrades when I fly is that I work up there. I usually can't type on my notebook when I'm in coach. There's simply no room. Then I am left to reading a book or watching a movie.

That seems like a good deal because I get some extra leisure time on the plane in coach. But the problem is, I still need to do the work, and may have to stay up late to get everything done once I reach my destination.

In other words, if I can work on the plane for 3 hours, I can go to bed 3 hours earlier that night.

It seems Microsoft understands this concept. They made two major announcements in Seattle today. They are expanding in the city of Seattle (as opposed to Redmond), and they are introducing their own bus service for employees.

I find this interesting. Microsoft is expanding in the downtown Seattle area. They will have 1400 jobs to the area over the next few months.

In addition to the new jobs, they are adding space to accommodate Redmond workers who find themselves on this side of the lake.

One goal is to better accommodate Microsoft employees who live in Seattle, Liddell said. In addition to the traditional office space, the company is creating 150 "touch down" spaces in the Westlake/Terry building -- small spots where employees who work in Redmond can sit down, plug in a laptop and work in Seattle for a couple of hours when they have a meeting in the city or want to avoid rush hour.

"The spaces are temporary -- they won't be second offices," Liddell explained. "But they will help relieve some of the pressures and unnecessary back-and-forths currently taking place."

Since much work these days requires simply a notebook computer and an internet connection, workers can have more flexibility.

The main campus is several miles east of Seattle, but it can take anywhere from 25 to 105 minutes to get there depending on traffic. And with Seattle's inability to make any decisions on infrastructure, I don't see that changing.

And MSFT doesn't want employees squandering hours sitting in a stopped car on the SR520 floating bridge. So they are also starting their own bus service.

The 14-bus Microsoft "Connector" system, to debut later this month, was announced as the company unveiled plans to open new offices in Seattle's South Lake Union and Pioneer Square neighborhoods.

At launch, the bus system will handle no more than 1,000 employees a day. That's only a slice of Microsoft's more than 35,000 employees in the region.

But the fact that Microsoft would find it necessary to take such a step added new fuel to the debate over comprehensive regional transportation reform.
...

The pilot program will include 14 buses, including seven large coaches with bike storage, and electrical outlets at each seat, in addition to Wi-Fi. Seven midsize coaches will be used for neighborhood pickups. There will be multiple runs in the morning and afternoon, Smith said.

...
Besides reducing traffic congestion and minimizing air pollution, keeping employees out of bumper-to-bumper traffic also keeps them happy.

And with those amenities on the bus, it looks like transit time can more effectively be used as work time. And maybe someone can get to bed an hour or two earlier

For more information about the downtown expansion, click here.

For more information about the new bus service, click here.

Freeway Signs

There is a quiet revolution going on all over the country. Gradually, old freeway direction, information, exit, and other signs are being replaced with signs featuring a new typeface.

Clearview is a replacement for Highway Gothic. Tests have shown it improves readability of signs at night by as much as 40%.

What I saw, Pietrucha knew, was what we all may see soon enough as we rush along America’s 46,871 miles of Interstate highways. What I saw was Clearview, the typeface that is poised to replace Highway Gothic, the standard that has been used on signs across the country for more than a half-century. Looking at a sign in Clearview after reading one in Highway Gothic is like putting on a new pair of reading glasses: there’s a sudden lightness, a noticeable crispness to the letters.

It's a fascinating and geeky story. You can learn more about 10-year development process in this NY Times article.

The Wheels are Coming off in Seattle

This is just weird.

Trucks losing tires leave State Patrol at a loss
By Jennifer Sullivan

Seattle Times staff reporter

Imagine speeding down the freeway when suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, a semi-truck tire hurtles toward your car.

In the past, such incidents were rare. But in recent weeks, a Bothell man has been killed and several cars have been damaged in five separate accidents involving tires coming off of semi-trucks.

"It is unusual to have an incident when you have a commercial tire come off a vehicle and hit anybody," said State Patrol spokesman Jeff Merrill. "To have five occurrences in the last month is just bizarre."


...

Wednesday night, an Issaquah man called 911 to report finding a large semi-truck tire on his patio.

The tire came off a semi on I-90, which is a few blocks from the man's home, bounced off the roadway and struck the roof of a nearby house — causing damage — before destroying the man's patio furniture, Merrill said.

...More

Fire Cleaner

I just missed getting stuck in a miles long traffic jam today.



I was headed north on I-5 on my way home from the airport. As I rounded a bend, traffic slowed down. I saw smoke billowing from up ahead. When I got a little closer I saw everyone moving over to the far right and left hand lanes. A piece of metal was just ahead in my lane.

And up ahead was a flaming street sweeper. The driver was pacing up and down the shoulder. The police and fire department hadn't gotter there yet. I saw flames licking the bottom of the street sweeper and more flames pouring out the right hand side of the vehicle.

It was cool.

I drove by on the left and after I passed it, I saw the state patrol and fire department pulling up in my review mirror.

They shut down the freeway to fight the fire and then cleanup the foam. Before they did that, though, the cars, trucks, and busses just drove right passed the flaming hulk of sanitation equipment.

Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me, but KIRO-TV has a bunch of pictures right here:

Burning Street Sweeper

For video from the WA DOT Camera:

Burning Street Sweeper Video Feed

I Don't Like LAX

I really dislike LAX (Los Angeles Airport). It's crowded, outdated, and just a pain to navigate. Everything about it annoys me -- from the lousy shuttle bus configuration to the freaky color changing pillars at the entrance. So I avoid it whenever I can.

Fortunately, there are plenty of other options for flying in to SoCal -- SNA (Orange County), ONT (Ontario), LGB (Long Beach), and BUR (Burbank). SAN (San Diego) is even an option depending on where you need to be.

Today, I flew into BUR. BUR (AKA Bob Hope Airport) has the worst airport website I've seen in ages. It looks like they hired a high school student to put it together in 1996 and haven't changed it since. I'm sure if I look hard enough, I'll find a BLINK tag somewhere on the page.

But that's not the point.

I flew into BUR and had to rent a car from Budget instead of Hertz. When I rent form Hertz, I step out of the terminal and am in my car in 3 or 4 minutes. With Budget, I had to do extra paperwork. Then I had to catch a shuttle. I missed the first shuttle and had to wait another 20 minutes for it to come back. Then it took them awhile to find the keys to my Ford Taurus rental (I have now driven 86% of all the Ford Taurii registered in the state of CA).

Next I headed out to my hotel on the rush hour freeways of CA. My 24 mile drive took about an hour. And where was my hotel?

Three blocks from LAX.

From the time the plane landed to the time I got to my hotel was about 2.5 hours.

And for all the hassle -- it still beats flying through LAX.

Seattle Trys Infrastructure -- Again

Now that we've been through the political debacles of the third Seatac runway, the monorail, and the viaduct, it's time to dive into the quagmire of the HWY 520 floating bridge.

It has exceeded its expected lifespan and needs to be replaced. It crosses a sensitive environmental area and university on one side, and one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the state on the other. And it carries huge volume of traffic.

This should go well.

The Washington State Department of Transportation is trying to get out in front of the dispute and remind people that doing nothing (which is all Seattle ever wants to do) is not an option. So they put out two videos projecting the destruction of the bridge.

They're actually pretty cool.

To Improve Pedestrian Safety, Seattle removes crosswalks.

After a spate of pedestrian deaths at crosswalks in recent years, the city of Seattle has decided it is safer to remove cross walks.

Bumper to Bumper
Disappearing crosswalk A growing "rush hour"
By Charles E. Brown
Seattle Times staff reporter

Marked crosswalks can create a false sense of safety for pedestrians, and removing those crosswalks indicates that those places are not preferred places to cross, says department spokesman Gregg Hirakawa. When a driver stops for someone crossing a busy four-lane street, a second driver could roll by in the next lane and hit the pedestrian.

By state law, however, every intersection is an "unmarked" crosswalk. So, it's still OK — and legal — to cross there, Hirakawa says.

Basically, marked crosswalks will become unmarked crosswalks because it's safer that way. Why is it safer? Because pedestrians will not think it's safe.

I'm not sure if this is incredibly brilliant or incredibly stupid. But I don't see drivers stopping for pedestrians at unmarked crosswalks any more than they did at marked ones.