Saturday night, my wife and I went into the city for a dinner party in Manhattan. We hit some serious traffic, which would have been easily avoidable, except all of the traffic signs warning us of what lay ahead had been hacked to read cute little messages (actually, some of them, like this one, were simply meaningless).

This all started a while back when someone figured out how to hack the signs and got one to read ‘Caution: Zombies Ahead’. Now that was funny, once. But yknow what, its not really that funny anymore, its just stupid and annoying, especially when you don’t even bother to write something clever.

Originally appeared on: StationStops - Metro-North Train Schedules and NYC Commuting Blog See the original post here: The Whole Traffic-Sign Hacking Thing – Enough Already

Mobile|Traffic has their own page for navigation, which is better, I think.

So, if you were thinking of heading up to Norwalk to get something at Best Buy or whatever, you might want to check the trouble exits in between to see what you’re in for.

Sometimes if we have friends coming down from Massachusetts we will give them the heads up on whether to take the Merritt based on these cams as well. Nothing is worse than driving 200 fairly traffic-free miles from Boston just to get completely C-blocked the last 5 miles in downtown Stamford – grrrrrr….

Originally appeared on: StationStops - Metro-North Train Schedules and NYC Commuting Blog See the original post here: Live Traffic Cams For Greenwich, Stamford, Norwalk I-95 Online

The measure now goes to the state legislature, who is expected to rubber-stamp the measure.

If approved, the new tolls could be imposed by March 31, 2009.

I am too lazy to paraphrase the plan, so I will quote the New York Times Cityroom:

“The congestion pricing plan, as approved by a 17-member state commission that voted at the end of January, would charge drivers with an E-ZPass $8 a day to enter Manhattan below 60th Street on weekdays from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Those drivers would also receive a credit for bridge or tunnel tolls they paid on the same day. Drivers without an E-ZPass would pay $9 and would not receive credit for tolls.”

via New York Times Cityroom

Originally appeared on: StationStops - Metro-North Train Schedules and NYC Commuting Blog See the original post here: Congestion Pricing Approved By New York City Council

Here is a picture of downtown Stamford this afternoon illustrating why it is an especially hot issue there:

Actually, this is a picture of a massive traffic jam in Russia from 2007.

Originally appeared on: StationStops - Metro-North Train Schedules and NYC Commuting Blog See the original post here: Mr Stamford asks: Please Stop Blocking the *&%$ing Box!!!

Trucks are not allowed on the Merritt Parkway.

Seriously.

Trucks. Are. Not. Allowed. On. The. Merritt. Parkway.

Bumper to Bumper: The Complete Guide to Tractor-Trailer Operations

Originally appeared on: StationStops - Metro-North Train Schedules and NYC Commuting Blog See the original post here: Naughty Trucker Gets Haircut On The Merritt

But its not just the temperature and snow that gets in my craw over Winter, much more it is the lack of daylight. Specifically, the cold darkness when you go home from work every day.

There is very little that is more humbling, more energy-sapping, then struggling through a tough car commute at 5:30 at night in freezing ‘wintry mix’ when it is completely dark outside. Contrast this to sliding out of work to a nice 75° sidewalk, with the sun still in the sky, and slipping into the nearest watering hole for a few margaritas until dark (around 9:30)! Sounds good, eh?

Its not wonder people suffer from SAD – I sometimes wonder who *doesn’t* suffer from it. Maybe third-shift workers who are used to the dark. Or vampires. Certainly not the 9-5 car commuter.

Know what else hasn’t helped this year? The writers strike. There is a reason why shows run during the winter and rerun in summer – its because in the winter, its dark and cold and we don’t go out much – so now your crappy cold dark commute is rewarded with reality programming. Ugh.

But cheer up, the tide is turning. The writers strike is over. Sunset is now at 5:30 and its only going to get earlier. March is about 10 degrees warmer then February. We are well on our way out of the darkness and into the sunlight.

Hang in there.

Originally appeared on: StationStops - Metro-North Train Schedules and NYC Commuting Blog See the original post here: An End To The Winter and The Darkness – and Bad Television

What is Electronic Stability Control? Generally speaking it is a computer oversight of the cars current traction situation, and the ability of the computer to override the driver’s control of the accelerator in order to restore a lost traction situation.

The easiest way to demonstrate electronic stability control is to simply stomp on the gas from a standing start in a car that has the feature turned off – the wheels will spin until they warm up and get some traction from forward motion, and you will hear the engine roar as you dump all that fuel into it.

If you turn the feature on and do the same thing, something very unexpected will happen – the engine will not roar, the tires will not spin. Instead, the car will move forward, cutting and enabling the engine power and/or brakes only to the point where the tires lose traction. No additional force is applied, and the tires stay on the road.

Its not a completely smooth experience, as the adjustments are somewhat abrupt.

In a similar situation more akin to the problem domain Electronic Stability Control seeks to solve in the first place, the driver takes a corner at speed in the rain – with ESC off in a RWD drive vehicle, the rear wheels will ‘fishtail’ or oversteer to some degree depending on the speed, turn, and driver input. With ESC the fact that the car is not travelling in the direction the driver is pointing the steering wheel enables the system and power and brakes are adjusted to compensate.

Just like your first time driving with cruise control, ESC kicking in can be a very surprising event for the driver – especially since most conservative drivers may go years without even having it happen. Its one of those ‘whoa I am not controlling the car’ moments – but in every case you learn to avoid it – to keep the car under control – and in this light ESC kind of serves as a gentle safety teacher.

ESC is the perfect complement to AWD and Winter Tires. Whereas Winter Tires and AWD seek to improve traction, ESC specifically takes over when traction is lost – providing a continuation of safety where the other two leave off. Similarly, the winter tires and awd reduce the necessity of ESC coming on in the first place.

Originally appeared on: StationStops - Metro-North Train Schedules and NYC Commuting Blog See the original post here: Winter Driving, Pt II – Electronic Stability Control