this post was submitted on 07 Mar 2024
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I'm curious, what do you have against metering lights? I've never encountered them, so I had to look them up. It seems they are installed to maintain the flow of traffic on off ramps and reduce congestion.
Metering lights are on during certain hours regardless of the flow of traffic. When traffic is going fast, they provide no benefit and actually make it worse by decreasing the merge speed of cars already half way down the ramp. When traffic is crawling, they also serve no purpose. They only help when the ramp is fed by a stoplight of tailgaters, and freeway traffic is heavy but flowing around 40-60 mph.
But they always increase emissions by bringing cars to an additional full stop and acceleration. Brake and tire dust emissions will also be significant during a full stop and acceleration.
The government in California is authorized by regulations to put up stoplights as a safety device. They are authorized to manage traffic. But they are not authorized to use stoplights to manage traffic, only as a safety device.
Many of our ramps are too short without metering lights. I wouldn’t be surprised if they actually decrease safety overall. There’s enough going on getting on the freeway safely at speed without having to follow a bunch of additional rules (there are many) while flooring the accelerator.
I’ve been ignoring the lights for about 10 years. If I have to stop because of a car in front of me, I will, but if one of the ramp lanes is open, I go. Sometimes this means passing a stopped car who’s following the rules, akin to cutting in line. I feel bad about it but I didn’t make them stop in the middle of an on ramp - a stupid light did.