Lane Closed

This is a common orange construction sign found all over the city. Fortunately, I am driving the white 2004, 2005 ETI Skoda trolleybus from the Czech Republic, and I have 16 foot trolley poles for maximum travel maneuvering.

Not so with the new sixty-foot Flyer trolleybuses with 14’ 6” yellow poles limiting their lane traveling space whenever construction cones are found. Indeed, this was one reason I decided to change trolleybus barns and keep using the buses with the longer poles.

Sure, the new Flyers have a poles down and cradle function, which means the operator does not have to leave the cockpit to switch to battery power, but it is always preferable to not have to stop and change power modes, much less, get out and put the poles back-up manually. The pause in applying the brake to switch to the auxiliary power unit, and then to stop and brake to return to 600 volt power, does put a crimp in the beats of flow during a green light cycle of the traffic lights; even with inspectors on the scene to help. This is especially true when three lanes are crimped down to one.

The green ahead at a major intersection is timed assuming a three-lane flow, not one. If the lead car in the queue wants to turn, it has to wait for the pedestrians to clear, and so do all the other cars blocked behind the lead car. A five, ten, and fifteen second add setting could be programmed into the signal box for such occasions, and delays could be reduced. The standard answer for such non-action is that this would adversely affect other nearby lights and intersections, but because traffic is constricted, the artery is un-clogged and free. True, cross traffic would build because they may have ten less seconds to cross, but because their lanes are all open, their backup is not as pronounced as the blocked street. The answer as to why no change can occur sounds final and predetermined, and usually makes me frustrated and then angry.

When the 30 X gets caught in the Broadway Tunnel, and I hear riders at Clay and Drumm relenting of their tales, I know the delay is critical to their job start time. Creating a wide bypass along Bay to Embarcadero instead of going through North Beach may eventually be added in a bulletin in our paddle when we pull-out, but having to wait two or three days after complaints to make the change is poor planning. It’s like there is no understanding about the consequences of single lane inbound backups on a Columbus Ave. to Stockton Street.

The great news is when street inspectors are added to get motorists’ attention to start moving forward at the end of a cycle, and to hold back pedestrians when a sixty-footer has to clear the crosswalk and turn. I realize it’s easy for me to be an armchair complainer, as a passenger stuck in traffic, and with our resources pushed to the max with construction everywhere, I understand the road of happy destiny is found by relaxing and understanding everyone, including the flagman, is doing their best. It is here , I notice the backhoe guys get orders to stop digging and move out of the way when I pass. I then see it is obvious they are under strict orders to let trolleys go by and clear the wires from their backhoe.

I see it must be incredibly frustrating for the construction guys to keep stopping and dropping what they are doing to allow a bus to go by. They must be surprised at how often we pass by, in either direction. Indeed, allowing us to go through slows down their work and adds days on to the work order. 

Manual control of the signals should be used more often, such when a major arterial is reduced to one lane, especially on the inbound morning peak, should a traffic control officer man “the box” and give the arterial more time green to flush motorists through the congestion point. My division trainer points out that management is very aware of my published blogs on Muni, and I do hope this point gets hammered home for change. 

One traffic control officer with the button “on the box” to manually override the green for a longer cycle on the impacted transit arterial, can do wonders to save re-routes and traffic delay. The fear about impacting other signals’ traffic patterns is overblown, as traffic on the other streets is minimal and should not be given the full cycle. 

Indeed, our traffic engineers need to consider double cycle programming built-in to signals for traffic lane closures. This is to say that one pedestrian cycle is eliminated every other cycle, and or, cross streets miss a green so the impacted transit arterial gets a full twenty-five, thirty-five, or forty-five second green every other cycle. I don’t know how you could code this into the lights for a switch, but I need to stress that our engineers are not using this “harm reduction” into their traffic cycles. 

I laugh when I say harm reduction, but this is exactly what it can do. Two SFMTA inspectors were tending to a motorist’s fender bender at Sutter and Mason during a single lane turn and single lane narrows for over a block, and this gridlocked traffic all the way back from Union Square to the Financial District. The fender bender could have all but been eliminated if the green light flow was opened up for a longer green. Too much stopping and starting creates more confusion and leads to the dead man’s pause of who goes first which eats up time and causes split-lane blocking. This version of blind man’s bluff, of who-go, you-go, eats up the clock and piles more gridlock backup.

I had the delight of seeing our engineering team proudly standing by a completed curb clear at Polk and Union, and I smiled back. Little did they seem to know that I was headed toward the jam of the month at Columbus and Green. This is a classic location for cutting out a pedestrian cycle and giving Columbus a longer green as our Skoda Trolleybus creeps along through the green on battery power.

With all the construction going on around town, I need longer poles. The construction workers seldom place the cones with the correct space needed for our poles to clear. Truck drivers also park too far away from the curb and their trailer box also interferes with the ropes attached to our trolley of poles. There seems to be no route or line that avoids lane closed signs because they are literally everywhere in the city.

Whenever a lane is closed and I can’t make it safely through, I pop the brake to engage the parking brake. I go out and rearrange the cones correctly, or step out of the coach to talk direct with any flagman or street supervisor. Staying put in the cockpit is usually not a good idea because I can’t be seen or heard by the person in control of the closed lane. I can get in trouble fast if I don’t understand what lane they want me to crossover to, or when it is safe to pass. Bulletins in our daily timetable help to let me know where the problems are.

Passengers get confused about where to stand when lanes are closed. I try to signal them with my lights or by hand gestures when I see them standing by a closed stop in a lane under construction. Sometimes my bulletins don’t match up with the signs, and the construction sign dates marked on the temporary zone signs don’t coincide with the how far the project has progressed. The dates and bulletins don’t match the actual scene. 

In these cases, I have found it best to pick up intending passengers at both the nearside and far side corners, and make sure they get a ride or get off where they need to go. Passengers can become impatient if the bus zone has been moved a block down the road and I am stuck in traffic, only made worse because a lane is closed.

On Hayes Street lane closures make for an interesting game of chicken as we must pass by a block with only one lane open. If the Flagmen are distracted by the Inspector, they miss the oncoming bus entering the gauntlet in the other direction. They will wave me on when it is not safe, and I ultimately am responsible for my passengers and my safety record by ignoring the wave from the inattentive flagman, and staying put.

If they don’t really change heart and pay attention, I can always play with lawn bowling or bocce ball rules whereby the cone is the marker and I try to see how close I come to the cone at my rear tire without knocking it over. The most awesome week is when I can touch the cone and spin it to move into the correct position without anyone having to move it. This is one of my reminders I am having a great day, even in a line delay. I got past the narrows and am on my way to the gold, just like a skier in the Winter Olympics

The road of happy destiny is coupled with manually operating signals on the box, especially during Christmas Rush at Fifth and Mission. When I see two meter maid electric scooters blocking a left turn from Third Street to Geary at Market, during the Christmas tree lighting in Union Square, I pick up the handset to TMC and make a call of gratitude. (This works better than telling them where to go and slamming down the handset.) Saving fifteen minutes of delay on Black Friday is truly an early Christmas present from operations!

The trolleybus of happy destiny is definitely not a bus that is rushing down the road! Especially with a lane closed!