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Old 07-28-2008, 09:03 PM
 
28,803 posts, read 47,480,102 times
Reputation: 37905

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Quote:
Originally Posted by yo vanilla View Post
well i'll take another swing at the dead horse

so what are they going to do about the majority of drivers who spend all their time stuck in traffic, which of course is way less efficient than driving 75mph or even 55. politicians, just when you thought they were trying to prove how short sighted they are... well they've always got another suprise
Nothing. Not a one of them is smart enough to come up with a solution.
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Old 07-29-2008, 12:25 AM
 
Location: Chicago
38,707 posts, read 102,687,747 times
Reputation: 29966
$4-a-gallon gas is already providing the solution. People are already consuming less. They don't need to be forced to use less of something whose price doubles overnight. Duh.
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Old 07-29-2008, 07:41 AM
 
Location: Austin TX
1,590 posts, read 4,559,377 times
Reputation: 458
Free markets for you
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Old 07-29-2008, 07:42 AM
 
Location: Austin TX
1,590 posts, read 4,559,377 times
Reputation: 458
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tek_Freek View Post
Nothing. Not a one of them is smart enough to come up with a solution.

I am just scared that they will try, and screw it all up again!
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Old 07-29-2008, 11:32 AM
 
28,803 posts, read 47,480,102 times
Reputation: 37905
Quote:
Originally Posted by Drover View Post
$4-a-gallon gas is already providing the solution. People are already consuming less. They don't need to be forced to use less of something whose price doubles overnight. Duh.
Hasn't changed my driving habits at all.

BTW I paid $3.96/gal for 91 octane yesterday. First time under $4.00 in about two months.
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Old 07-31-2008, 09:02 AM
 
100 posts, read 390,491 times
Reputation: 59
If polititians want to save gas...then they can start by having local governments remove unnecessary traffic lights and start syncronizing the street grid.

I have to have a full sized vehicle for work- My Suburban runs on 4 cylinders on the highway which saves all kinds of fuel. If I keep my speed at a steady 40 mph, I can get 36 mpg. In stop and go city driving, I average about 14 mpg. On a flat highway, crusing at 70 mph, I get around 21 mpg. While towing...well, mileage sucks while towing at any speed.

My wife's new Chevrolet Malibu 4 cylinder will, according to the "instant mpg" computer on the car, will get 34 mpg on a flat highway at 70 mph and about 45mpg at a steady 35-40 mph.

If you have one of the cars mentioned above and don't get the mileage that I am getting....then learn how to drive. Hard braking and acceleration does no one any good. I turn on the "average mpg" display on the Suburban...and it changes the way I drive. I am always mindful of that now. It saves me gas and it will probably mean less maintainence when my truck gets older.

The problem? My commute is on a 4 lane suburban/city road with a speed limit of 35 or 40 mph, depending on the location. In the 7 miles between my house and my workshop, there are 12 traffic lights- and I am lucky if I only have to stop at 7 of them. They are not timed...and if they are, it certainly isn't timed to the speed limit. The time spent at idle and accelerating from a stop really eats up my average mpg on both cars.

When new developments are built- like a Wal Mart or Target- the city requires a traffic light to be placed on the main road for access, but doesn't require them to be in sync with the rest of the system.
This same problem is all over America since people are constantly moving into unincorporated areas or municipalities will little to no planning or traffic control.

My point is that if we can get remove uncessary traffic lights, encourage smarter driving (like lane disipline enforcement instead of speed restrictions), KEEP TRAFFIC FLOWING, and spend some money syncronizing and timing our traffic lights then you will see the following happen:

-People will be in better moods as they move from point A to point B since they can make better time.
-People will think twice about taking direct routes if it means making a lot of left turns...which gives traffic planners an edge in traffic control
-People will save a lot of fuel.
-People will pay attention to speed limits, espeicially on surface streets.



We can't lower speed limits on divided 4 lane roads from 75 mph to 55 mph. That's doesn't make since....especially since more people will be driving instead of flying to the destination to save money since our airlines in this country are pathetic and our rail options are crappy at best.

We need to make our city streets flow better- and that means smarter traffic lights. Cities are where most of the gas is spent in our country. Let's start there before the do the easy fix of lowering speed limits for a marginal decrease in fuel consumption and huge burden on long-distance drivers.
Besides, now that the EPA test cars to a new standard, which includes higher speed driving on the freeway with the A/C on, automotive engineers will design cars (and already have) that get better mileage at higher speeds..negating the need for a 55 mph limit. Why limit speed to 55 mph when cars are being designed to achieve great efficiency at 65-75 mph?

Last edited by southland; 07-31-2008 at 09:11 AM..
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Old 07-31-2008, 09:54 AM
 
Location: NH. NY. SC. next move, my ground condo
3,533 posts, read 12,275,872 times
Reputation: 4520
Wink no go

IMHO the only vehicles this is going to help are the old ones that aren't made for higher speeds and don't have more than 3 speeds. most everything new is made to get great milage at any or higher speeds. so unless you own something from the 70's or 80's i do not beleave this will help...
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Old 07-31-2008, 10:10 AM
 
28,803 posts, read 47,480,102 times
Reputation: 37905
Quote:
Originally Posted by southland View Post
If polititians want to save gas...then they can start by having local governments remove unnecessary traffic lights and start syncronizing the street grid.
No kidding.

We live by a street that curves in a 90 degree arc over about 10 blocks. Both ends of the street intersect different, but busy, streets.

One end has a stop light that changes within 30-40 seconds stays green long enough to let 2 or 3 cars through then back. It will stay green longer if there are more cars tripping the sensor.

The other end is a two minute minimum wait no matter how many cars are at the intersection. We wait for..... nothing. Even if there is no cross traffic the light will not change in less than 2 minutes. If the light has changed for facing traffic and you pull up to the intersection in the middle of their light, the one for you will not change. You have to wait for the end of their cycle, then the cross traffic cycle.

Who is responsible for this idiot system?

The weird thing is that the intersection that has us waiting has considerably more traffic than the other because of apartment buildings and businesses, yet the busier intersection waits longer.

What a waste of gasoline.
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Old 07-31-2008, 11:05 AM
 
3,027 posts, read 7,885,628 times
Reputation: 3911
My vehicle does fine at 70 with MPG,26-32,don't need 55 nonsense again.
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Old 08-06-2008, 04:30 PM
 
273 posts, read 1,243,758 times
Reputation: 127
Driving at or below the posted speed limit in Utah is punishable by death. You will get your a$$ run over by all the giant SUVs and pick-ups running 85 mph.
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