Staten Island Buses to Get Power to Turn Lights Green

Those lucky Staten Island residents that take the Victory Boulevard bus route have scored a victory. Starting next month, 300 buses on the route will be outfitted with special transmitters that can turn traffic lights from red to green. The transmitters will send signals to receivers on a 2.3 mile stretch of Victory from Forest Ave to Bay St that includes 14 traffic lights.

Transportation officials hope that the new system, which will start testing at the end of September, will help buses speed along the congested street. The Department of Transportation will study how much time is saved with the system, which was supposed to start earlier this year. It was delayed due to voltage issues on the transmitters, 2/3 of which have been replaced.

The system turns a red light green seven seconds sooner if a bus is within 120 feet of the light. If the bus is out of that range, it will just sit in traffic as it normally does. If the light is already green, it will stay green longer for the bus. The technology will be included in the city's Bus Rapid Transit program, which is supposed to roll out over the next two years.

Photo of bus by shveckle on flickr

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By tien mao on August 29, 2007 3:25 PM

Comments [rss]

guest

How do you all figure this is a good idea ? Remember those other vehicles out on the road along-side that bus ! What do you think will happen when they see one of these buses approaching a light that's currently on red ? Will they (A) Speed up too either pass the bus, (B) Cut in front of the bus setting the stage for a multi-car pile up ? I wonder which of the following will occur first ! Staten Island is for the most part is a speedway to start ! Why would you give them the flame to ignite the fuel ! Posted by;"Still Not Amused"

glennQNYC

Sounds like a good idea...

The concept of improving the value of mass-transit to entice it's use, instead of penalizing (through additional fees/taxes/tolls) those who choose not to use the system (in it's current incarnation) sounds even better.

Make mass transit the most attractive option by improving the experience!

guest

I like the photo... "Next stop, great health." A bit of irony, perhaps, given the shape of the two people in the pic... SI doesn't need green lights, it needs sidewalks and a few thousand nutritionists!

guest

I forsee massive failure when this is implemented in Manhattan. Think about it... bus gives a green light at one block, all the cars in the vicinity of said bus will be rushing towards the next block, gridlocking there. The bus will be blocked in at the bus stop waiting for next red-green cycle for traffic to clear.

dadoc

I can the smell the solder & flux from thousands of garages as the techno-geeks go for the clone. Can almost guarantee one will be clipped from a garaged bus in the VERY near future, and the plans & specs will be posted a la Anarchist Cookbook style. Next you'll be getting pulled over for a Pringles can on your dash.

Dadoc

Toby von Meistersinger

Bus rapid transit is an oxymoron and the buses aren't going to have a button they can push to get rid of traffic.

What needs to be done for Staten Island is to add more to Staten Island Rapid Transit (the SI version of the subway) lines and add some light rail lines, perhaps even expanding NJ Transit's Hudson-Bergen line over to give access to the transit options on west side of the Hudson into Manhattan.

As for buses vs. busses, buses is the more accepted plural.

guest

This system is already in place in LA, it sort of works, but traffic is traffic.

guest

The proper plural of bus is beese.

ed_Extinct

also,

if the buses are going thru green light, aren't the cars as well? i see failure up ahead.

ed_Extinct

this is a dumb idea oh and ltes not forget a huge waste of money.

tien

famedoc - according to answers.com, the plural of bus is either buses or busses. i was covering my bases, but i've changed it to remain consistent.

cwbuecheler

This is a great step. Less idling time, less waiting, less emissions ... I take the bus daily and I know I'd love to see this implemented along my route. Anything that benefits public transportation is a good idea, especially if it comes as a detriment to personal vehicles (thus discouraging their use).

I agree that green buses are strongly needed, as well.

guest

Can we get green buses, please? I am tired of breathing in bus fumes everyday throughout the city.

famdoc

I think the plural of bus (as in mode of transportation usually used in urban mass transit systems) is buses (ie, one 's'). Busses means 'more than one kiss."