Talking Traffic

Episode 35 - New Drivers Experiences

Bill Ruhsam — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 04:00:08 +0000

Topics: New Drivers, Interview

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Xkcd to the Rescue

Bill Ruhsam — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 10:06:32 +0000

Randall Munroe is the man.

Episode 34 - Safety and Funding

Bill Ruhsam — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 04:00:47 +0000

Topics: Safety, Funding

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The Road Goes Ever On

Bill Ruhsam — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 11:47:12 +0000

The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.
–J.R.R. Tolkien

I read The Lord of the Rings at an impressionable age. This particular poem is one of the ones that stuck with me. It’s generally applicable to almost any situation that involves inconstancy or motion or change.

Today marks the third anniversary of the first podcast published on Talking Traffic. I thought about doing a retrospective of some sort via the podcast but decided it wasn’t worth your time. So, here is me marking the moment. I hope you’ve been enjoying reading and listening here.

Episode 33 - Safety: A Brief Disposition

Bill Ruhsam — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 04:00:22 +0000

Topics: Safety: A Brief Disposition

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Beware of those Pot Holes

Bill Ruhsam — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 20:05:56 +0000

A sinkhole in Milwaukee, WI, ate an SUV and a traffic signal pole.

Episode 32.5 - Metacast

Bill Ruhsam — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 16:02:40 +0000

Topics: Metacast - What’s going on in Talking Traffic land.

This is not your Childhood Roadkill

Bill Ruhsam — Mon, 10 May 2010 18:20:45 +0000

The Boston Globe’s Big Picture has photo essays that are well worth your time.

Today’s is about animals. One of the pictures takes you to a (sad) shot of some very large roadkill.

I used to commute on I-88 in upstate NY. I saw roadkill turkeys, geese and deer all the time. Around here I see opossum, cats, dogs, squirrels, raccoons and the occasional armadillo. I’ve never seen anything like that link.

Guerrilla Traffic Calming

Bill Ruhsam — Mon, 10 May 2010 12:15:14 +0000

A protest over “‘motorway levels’ of cars and lorries on a road with no pavement for pedestrians” is taking the form of a series of people standing at a pedestrian pushbutton, continuously activating it and making a call for the pedestrian phase.

According to the Environmental Transport Agency in England, the activation of the pedestrian signal is “causing tailbacks up to four miles long in the process.”

I’m wondering what laws are being broken during this protest, if any? In Georgia, I can’t think of any specific laws that would prohibit me from continuously calling for a pedestrian signal. I’m sure there’s something in the GA Code (annotated) that would allow me to be cited, but I don’t know what it is off the top of my head. Public Nuisance?

An innovative protest using system resources against itself.

Speed Humps

Bill Ruhsam — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 11:04:47 +0000

Christian Yarnell of the Columbia School of Journalism had a conversation with me last month about speed humps. Here is his final article. It’s well worth the read. He manages to summarize pretty much the entire situation around these traffic calming devices.

Speed Humps face a Roadblod