Transportation Rants

When self driving cars become a viable way for teens to go about their lives, I think its important to have a mechanism for ensuring safety. What I envision is softwre that integrates with the car that parents can set so that the car only moves when the appropriate buckles are in place, and (based on a camera in the car and AI interpreting the images) people are seated in the appropriate places.

Parking lot operators should eliminate mandatory app downloads by placing direct QR web-pay links on parking signs. Drivers enter their license plate number on a lightweight browser page and pay via Apple/Google Pay in under 30 seconds.

To prevent gridlock caused by vehicles trapping intersections, local authorities should install automated traffic camera enforcement at key Mercer intersections, issuing immediate fines for drivers who enter intersections without clear exit space.

Ferry operators should deploy automated license plate readers at holding lot entrances, sending automated text alerts to drivers with exact estimated wait times and option links to rebook alternate sailings before entering terminal lanes.

Transit agencies should restructure maintenance contracts for deep underground station escalators, tying vendor payment directly to operational uptime metrics. Keeping dedicated technicians on-call and staging high-wear replacement parts on-site slashes repair turnaround times from months to hours.

While there is rarely a case where a right turn on red sign should be in place, except where there is limited visibility - in the city of Seattle they are starting to show up at every intersection, supposedly in the name of pedestrian safety. But since pedestrians have a red when cars have a red, these don't make sense. Instead, there are light flashing crosswalk indicators in use when crossing an arterial in the city. Rather than spending money on a sign it would make sense to spend money on ways for pedestrians to annouce their intention to walk such as using flashing lights when someone has actively indicated they are going to cross.

To solve aggressive merging and bottlenecking on I-5, transportation departments should install dual-signal metering lights at merge points that strictly alternate left-and-right car flow. Combined with overhead lane-assignment displays and clear 'Zipper Merge Point' road painted markers, traffic merge velocity increases by up to 20%.