Friday Metro showed off the first of (15) 60-foot articulated buses that’ll be here by the end of summer, 5 will go into service on the busy #70 (Grand) MetroBus route on June 9th. St. Louis isn’t the only city that bought some of Ottawa’s 226 old articulated bus fleet. From March 2012:
Last week, Winnipeg Transit announced it wants to spend $1.1 million to purchase articulated buses at a discounted rate from New Flyer Industries, after Ottawa traded them in for new buses. The buses will cost $53,000 each, instead of the $625,000 they would cost brand-new.
For years Metro has purchased new buses from Califiornia-based Gillig, but they still don’t offer an articulated bus. New Flyer, out of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, has been offering articulated buses for years.
The first of 15 articulated buses, basically a 30ft bus with a 30ft trailer.Interior of the rebuilt bus looks like a brand-new bus.
For more information, see Metro’s articulated bus fact sheet (PDF). These new buses are the subject for the poll this week, I’d like to get your thoughts. I’ve provided a range of answers, plus I’ve also set the poll so you can enter your own if you don’t like the ones provided. The poll is in the right sidebar. Results and my views will be posted on Wednesday April 2nd.
Sixty percent of those who voted in the poll last week picked the two answers indicating we have too many stop signs, with twenty-three percent saying “about right” and just over eight percent saying we don’t have enough. Here are the numbers:
Q: The number of stop signs in St…
Excessive 38 [44.19%]
About right 20 [23.26%]
A little too many 14 [16.28%]
Unsure/No Answer 7 [8.14%]
Not enough 5 [5.81%]
A little too few 2 [2.33%]
Clearly most feel we have too many, with not quite half saying the number of stop signs is excessive. I think this depends on where you live and the route you take. Some parts of the city have so many 4-way stops that drivers mostly ignore the stop signs block after block. This has happened because our aldermen like to say yes to constituent requests for more stop signs.
The Federal Highway Administration addresses stop signs in a FAQ:
A stop sign is an inconvenience to motorists. Because of this, stop signs should only be placed if they meet a Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) warrant. Stop signs are frequently violated if unwarranted. Before warrants are even considered, however, less restrictive measures (such as a yield sign) are usually considered. In certain cases, the use of less restrictive measure or no control at all will accommodate traffic demands safely and effectively.
Warrants for a stop sign
Because a stop sign is an inconvenience to through traffic, it should be used only where needed. A stop sign may be warranted at an intersection where one or more of the following conditions exist:
intersection of a less important road with a main road where application of the regular right-of- way rule is hazardous;
street entering a through highway or street;
unsignalized intersection in a signalized area;
other intersections where a combination of high speed, restricted view, and serious accident record indicates a need for control by the stop sign.
A yield sign can also be considered where a full stop is not necessary. Existing sign installations should be reviewed to determine whether the use of a less restrictive control or no control at all could accommodate the existing and projected traffic flow safely and more effectively.
WHERE SHOULD A STOP SIGN BE INSTALLED?
Stop signs should be installed/located where the vehicles are to stop or as near to that point as possible. The sign may also be supplemented with a stop line and/or the word STOP on the pavement. A yield sign is erected in the same manner. Where there is a marked crosswalk, the stop or yield sign should be erected approximately four feet in advance of the crosswalk line.
When only one stop or yield sign is used on an intersection approach it should be on the right side of the roadway. At wide intersections, however, violations of the yield or stop sign may be reduced by the erection of an additional sign on the left side of the approach. If two lanes of traffic exist on an approach, at least one stop sign should be visible to each lane of traffic.
Ok, so we have a lot of stop signs. No harm, right? Wrong! Back to the FHWA FAQ:
Many studies have shown that stop signs are not an effective measure for controlling or reducing midblock speeds. In fact, the overuse of stop signs may cause drivers to carelessly stop at the stop signs that are installed. In stop sign observance studies approximately half of all motorists came to a rolling stop and 25 percent did not stop at all. Stop signs can give pedestrians a false sense of safety if it is assumed that all vehicles will come to a complete stop at the proper location. A study conducted by Beaubien also showed that placing stop signs along a street may actually increase the peak speed of vehicles, because motorists tend to increase their speed between stop signs to regain the time spent at the stop signs.
It’s possible our excessive use may be having negative consequences, still speeding cars plus increased pollution. Any alternatives?
A traffic circle like the one at Louisiana & Osceola is an alternative
Traffic circles are commonly used in intersections in some other cities, I’m most familiar with the ones in Seattle. However, some say these are dangerous to cyclists. I think we need to look at our stop signs and determine if changes need to be made to reduce their use in some areas.
Metro’s #97 MetroBus route is commonly known as the “Delmar”, and it does go down Delmar west of Vandeventer. It also runs on McKnight, Ladue, Maryland, Central, Shaw Park, Meramec, Old Bonhomme, Vandeventer, Enright, Spring, Washington, and 14th. The route doesn’t include Locust St., but utility construction on Washington Ave meant the #94 & #97 buses had to be rerouted. The #94 got pushed a block north to Delmar and the #97 got pushed a block south to Locust.
A #97 MetroBus heading eastbound on Locust at 16th
I took the image above right after I exited my building. I love seeing buses going up and down my street! What I haven’t seen during the last couple of month of the reroute is temporary bus stops. Bus routes have flexility that streetcar routes don’t, but that flexility comes with the responsibility to mark stops. The current alert doesn’t mention stops:
an action where you come up to a stop sign look both ways but never actually make a complete stop
People complain about them but many also request they be added at their corner. In the poll this week I’d like readers to finish the statement “The number of stop signs in St. Louis is…”
The answers range from not enough to excessive, appearing in random order in the poll in the right sidebar. The poll results and my thoughts on Wednesday March 19th.
Late last year Chippewa got a road diet using paint, not concrete. Four traffic lanes were reduced to two with a center turn lane, and a bike lane was added in each direction. Under the railroad bridge between Gravois & Meramec was the part that confused me, with a wide lane to the right of the new bike lane. The other day I was finally in a place where I could get some photos.
Looking east you see the westbound bike lane to the right of the orange cones.Looking west toward Meramec
Because of the railroad tracks pedestrians haven’t been able to walk in an east-west direction along Chippewa. Up top the tracks are a barrier and the underpass was designed decades ago only for vehicles. Online I found Chippewa Bike Lanes: A Review:
The pedestrian lane under the viaduct seems like a creative and appropriate solution to the problem of pedestrian connectivity along aging infrastructure. It is important that the pedestrian lane be separated from automobile traffic, and the traffic cones are obviously a temporary fix. We look forward to seeing the permanent configuration, and will update this post as the project evolves.
Hopefully the traffic cones are just temporary, but replaced with what? The excellent images on the post Chippewa Bike Lanes: A Review show how lanes shift, with the risk of motorists ending up driving in the bike/pedestrian lanes.
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