Dealing with city hall - traffic light sensors

[Mike Rocket J. Squirrel Elliott]

On 10/6/2005 10:17 PM Jim Adney wrote:

> On Thu, 06 Oct 2005 14:50:29 -0700 "Mike Rocket J. Squirrel Elliott"
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
>>I don't know if there is a specification for how sensitive the pickup
>>loop has to be, whether that specification is sufficient for it to sense
>>a bike, and how to find out whether my city's (Carlsbad, CA) sensors are
>>supposed to meet that spec.
>
>
> Carlsbad? No kidding! I lived there for nearly a year in '73-4 when I
> was working for Masi south of town.
>
> Is it still a rather sleepy little town with no one there between the
> age of 25 and 45?

Yup. Although "sleepy" is relative -- all of San Diego county has seen
massive land grabbing and overbuilding. Endless seas of identical pink
stucco houses. Remember the flower fields behind Anderson's split pea
windmill? Picture a hotel and several commercial buildings at the top
where there the flower formerly met the sky.

--

Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
71 Type 2: the Wonderbus
84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
KG6RCR

 

[Jim Adney]

On Sat, 08 Oct 2005 07:10:34 -0700 "Mike Rocket J. Squirrel Elliott"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>On 10/6/2005 10:17 PM Jim Adney wrote:

>> Carlsbad? No kidding! I lived there for nearly a year in '73-4 when I
>> was working for Masi south of town.
>>
>> Is it still a rather sleepy little town with no one there between the
>> age of 25 and 45?
>
>Yup. Although "sleepy" is relative -- all of San Diego county has seen
>massive land grabbing and overbuilding. Endless seas of identical pink
>stucco houses. Remember the flower fields behind Anderson's split pea
>windmill? Picture a hotel and several commercial buildings at the top
>where there the flower formerly met the sky.

Sorry, don't remember any flower beds anywhere, nor any windmills.
Probably just been too long, or maybe I never got out to the right
parts of town.

-
-----------------------------------------------
Jim Adney [email protected]
Madison, WI 53711 USA
-----------------------------------------------

 

[[email protected]]

[email protected] wrote:

> BTW, traffic detectors based on digital cameras - i.e. machine vision -
> are starting to appear. I don't know much about them, but I think some
> programming is necessary. I wonder if they must be programmed
> specifically to detect a cyclist. Anyone know?
>
> - Frank Krygowski
We have some in our area. With no cars in the area, I will ride side
to side near the stop line across the traffic lanes. Most of these
will then turn green. A few will not pick this movement up.

 

[Mike Rocket J. Squirrel Elliott]

On 10/9/2005 9:11 AM Jim Adney wrote:

> On Sat, 08 Oct 2005 07:10:34 -0700 "Mike Rocket J. Squirrel Elliott"
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
>>On 10/6/2005 10:17 PM Jim Adney wrote:
>
>
>>>Carlsbad? No kidding! I lived there for nearly a year in '73-4 when I
>>>was working for Masi south of town.
>>>
>>>Is it still a rather sleepy little town with no one there between the
>>>age of 25 and 45?
>>
>>Yup. Although "sleepy" is relative -- all of San Diego county has seen
>>massive land grabbing and overbuilding. Endless seas of identical pink
>>stucco houses. Remember the flower fields behind Anderson's split pea
>>windmill? Picture a hotel and several commercial buildings at the top
>>where there the flower formerly met the sky.
>
>
> Sorry, don't remember any flower beds anywhere, nor any windmills.
> Probably just been too long, or maybe I never got out to the right
> parts of town.

The Anderson Split Pea restaurant at I-5 and Palomar Airport Road? I
don't know when that was built. The flower fields behind have been there
for many decades. I moved to SD in the early 80's so maybe those things
went in after you left and before I moved here.

--

Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
71 Type 2: the Wonderbus
84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
KG6RCR

 

[Jim Adney]

On Wed, 12 Oct 2005 07:36:32 -0700 "Mike Rocket J. Squirrel Elliott"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>The Anderson Split Pea restaurant at I-5 and Palomar Airport Road?

I remember Palomar Airport Road. Didn't it run E-W toward the south of
town? I believe Masi was just a couple blocks south of there.

I don't remember the Split Pea restaurant. The only eating place I
recall was a place near the beach where you could get a great sandwich
called, IIRC, an "avocado supreme." Had svocado and sprouts on whole
wheat bread, good stuff.

-
-----------------------------------------------
Jim Adney [email protected]
Madison, WI 53711 USA
-----------------------------------------------

 

[Mike Iglesias]

In article <[email protected]>,
Mike Rocket J. Squirrel Elliott <[email protected]> wrote:
>Not safe to cross this intersection against the red, but all the more
>reason for them to want to make adjustments. Thanks, guys! I'll give the
>city a call!

I had to alter my route to work because of road construction and I had
a problem with a signal sensor not detecting my bike, so I emailed the
appropriate city office about it. I received an email that day saying
they had forwarded my email to the city engineer in charge of signals.
He emailed me the next day and arranged a time to meet me at the
signal with the contractor that maintains the signals for the city.
They had me park over the sensor while they adjusted the sensitivity,
and then had me go back down the street and ride up to it again to
make sure it was working correctly. Now that's service!

This was in Costa Mesa, CA.

--
Mike Iglesias Email: [email protected]
University of California, Irvine phone: 949-824-6926
Network & Academic Computing Services FAX: 949-824-2069

 

[Doug Huffman]

Service - as an after thought. Be thankful for the sop thrown.


"Mike Iglesias" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> In article <[email protected]>,
> Mike Rocket J. Squirrel Elliott
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>>Not safe to cross this intersection against the red, but all the more
>>reason for them to want to make adjustments. Thanks, guys! I'll give the
>>city a call!
>
> I had to alter my route to work because of road construction and I had
> a problem with a signal sensor not detecting my bike, so I emailed the
> appropriate city office about it. I received an email that day saying
> they had forwarded my email to the city engineer in charge of signals.
> He emailed me the next day and arranged a time to meet me at the
> signal with the contractor that maintains the signals for the city.
> They had me park over the sensor while they adjusted the sensitivity,
> and then had me go back down the street and ride up to it again to
> make sure it was working correctly. Now that's service!
>
> This was in Costa Mesa, CA.
>
> --
> Mike Iglesias Email:
> [email protected]
> University of California, Irvine phone: 949-824-6926
> Network & Academic Computing Services FAX: 949-824-2069

 

[Mike Rocket J. Squirrel Elliott]

On 10/12/2005 7:16 PM Jim Adney wrote:

> On Wed, 12 Oct 2005 07:36:32 -0700 "Mike Rocket J. Squirrel Elliott"
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
>>The Anderson Split Pea restaurant at I-5 and Palomar Airport Road?
>
>
> I remember Palomar Airport Road. Didn't it run E-W toward the south of
> town? I believe Masi was just a couple blocks south of there.

E toward San Marcos, W to Highway 1 at the coast.

> I don't remember the Split Pea restaurant. The only eating place I
> recall was a place near the beach where you could get a great sandwich
> called, IIRC, an "avocado supreme." Had svocado and sprouts on whole
> wheat bread, good stuff.

Food nostalgia. Nothin' better.
--

Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
71 Type 2: the Wonderbus
84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
KG6RCR

 

[Werehatrack]

On Sat, 08 Oct 2005 07:10:34 -0700, "Mike Rocket J. Squirrel Elliott"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>On 10/6/2005 10:17 PM Jim Adney wrote:
>> Carlsbad? No kidding! I lived there for nearly a year in '73-4 when I
>> was working for Masi south of town.
>>
>> Is it still a rather sleepy little town with no one there between the
>> age of 25 and 45?
>
>Yup. Although "sleepy" is relative -- all of San Diego county has seen
>massive land grabbing and overbuilding. Endless seas of identical pink
>stucco houses. Remember the flower fields behind Anderson's split pea
>windmill? Picture a hotel and several commercial buildings at the top
>where there the flower formerly met the sky.

I keep waiting for the LA sprawl to reach Lompoc.

With gas prices still rising, suburban spread seems to be slowing
somewhat, though. I heard a report that a recent Grand Opening of a
new development semi-near here drew less than a dozen people on a
Saturday. There is some suspicion that its distance from downtown
(about 36 miles, only half freeway) may have something to do with
that.
--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
Some gardening required to reply via email.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

 

[Patrick Lamb]

On 7 Oct 2005 09:30:01 -0700, [email protected] wrote:
>BTW, traffic detectors based on digital cameras - i.e. machine vision -
>are starting to appear. I don't know much about them, but I think some
>programming is necessary. I wonder if they must be programmed
>specifically to detect a cyclist. Anyone know?

We got some last year. I was originally skeptical, but now I really
like them. No more searching for the latest saw kerf, just drive up
to the line and wait. They've detected me in the dark (with a light),
in the daytime, and in relatively low-contrast overcast (when I turned
the rear blinky on but didn't have a headlight). I don't know if they
were specifically tuned for a cyclist; I suspect I'm close enough to a
small motorcycle that it caught me with a default installation.

Pat

Email address works as is.

 

[Ben Pfaff]

[email protected] writes:

> BTW, traffic detectors based on digital cameras - i.e. machine vision -
> are starting to appear. I don't know much about them, but I think some
> programming is necessary. I wonder if they must be programmed
> specifically to detect a cyclist. Anyone know?

I have seen newspaper articles citing the ability to detect
cyclists as an advantage of camera-based traffic detectors. If I
recall correctly, the article claimed that new camera-based
sensors along El Camino Real (in Palo Alto, CA) could be
triggered by cyclists, implying that the old ones could not.
Didn't quite make sense to me; plenty of other traffic sensors
can detect bikes.
--
"The road to hell is paved with convenient shortcuts."
--Peter da Silva

 

[[email protected]]

Next time, you might get an old junk wheel from your LBS and give to
the engineers for a calibration device whenever they need to adjust
other lights.

Mike Iglesias wrote:
> In article <[email protected]>,
> Mike Rocket J. Squirrel Elliott <[email protected]> wrote:
<deleted>
> He emailed me the next day and arranged a time to meet me at the
> signal with the contractor that maintains the signals for the city.
> They had me park over the sensor while they adjusted the sensitivity,
> and then had me go back down the street and ride up to it again to
> make sure it was working correctly. Now that's service!