Turn Right on Red?
On the back of my trip to California for the Dev Summit, I took the opportunity for a holiday. A 2000 mile road trip taking in the best of The Golden State…Los Angeles, Mammoth, Napa, San Francisco, the Pacific Coast Highway back to LA and a stop over in NYC for good measure. Living in the UK, where we drive on the left, driving in the United States means lots of surprises…not least, turning right on a red light!
Waiting at Newark airport on the way home I flicked through a copy of Time magazine, specifically their list of 51 tips to save the planet. I was surprised to find GIS only managed a lowly 45th on the list, under the pseudonym…”Make One right turn after another”.
“In 2004, UPS announced that its drivers would avoid making left turns. The time spent idling while waiting to turn against oncoming traffic burns fuel and costs millions each year. A software program (Microsoft Word?) maps a customized route for every driver to minimize lefts.
In metro New York, UPS has reduced CO2 emissions by 1,000 metric tons since January. Today 83% of UPS facilities are heading in the right direction; within two years, the policy will be adopted nationwide.”
Ok, so no direct mention of GIS, but make no mistake, this is GIS in main stream media. But if the USA is serious about surviving climate change, maybe they should try a roundabout?.
Photos from NicPic and Kwisatch at Flickr
One Comment, Comment or Ping
Chad
Ahhh… but roundabouts usually cause more crashes.
There have been three new ones put in on my route to and from work.. it took a good year for people to figure out how to use them.. so now it is only 2 or 3 near misses a week instead of 1 or 2 a day.
They also take up too much space, so most existing intersections can’t be changed.
Apr 5th, 2007
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