Some sensible cost cutting, good bye and good riddance to half of the TMA

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-chicago-lays-...

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Permalink Reply by Tank-Ridin' Ryan on August 2, 2011 at 5:42am
It sucks that people will be losing their jobs, but a lot of the TMA's work that I've seen has been complete waste.  What exactly was the point of having someone standing in the middle of a traffic-light-controlled intersection in downtown, Wrigleyville, etc other than putting someone's life in completely unnecessary danger?
Permalink Reply by Duppie on August 2, 2011 at 5:59am

TMA's are to all traffic participants like stop signs are to bicyclists: Following their direction is optional.

 

I may be wrong, but it appears that TMA's lacked the stature of a police officer. That is why everyone ignored them.

 

It didn't help that they often appeared at random, and if there was more than one of them in an intersection, their actions appeared uncoordinated: One was waving cars through the intersection one one side, while the other was waving pedestrians trough.

Permalink Reply by Joel on August 2, 2011 at 6:20am
As far as I can tell, they just slowed traffic even more.  People didn't know what to do and it was often hard to dodge them in the middle of the road.
Permalink Reply by Carly on August 3, 2011 at 2:49am
Ever see any other crowed intersection during rush hour?  I work in Albany Park, and Foster and Kedzie is a terrible intersection to be in between 4-5pm or so.  As many cars as possible squeeze themselves in up until the last second, and at least one car is always sticking out so the perpendicular traffic can't go when their light turns green.  Much of the traffic takes up the rush hour-empty parking lane on the right, only to have to merge up front later (because someone IS parked on the right during the no-parking time) and merging seems to take more time than just waiting single file behind the other cars.  I've never cycled downtown during rush hour, so I haven't really experienced TMAs all that much.  Although, I'd imagine downtown traffic might be more unruly than that in Albany Park.  I'd like to hear about how it goes after those TMAs have been gone for a while.  I also wish cars didn't take up so much space.
Permalink Reply by Jason W on August 3, 2011 at 10:23am
Keep the cuts coming Rham!
Permalink Reply by Harry Lee on August 3, 2011 at 2:53pm
I hate to see people lose their jobs as well, but honestly, I can't say this is a bad move. Special events and construction will still see coverage, and I'm tired of seeing traffic aides at intersections that have working stoplights.
Permalink Reply by Matt Tennessen on August 3, 2011 at 3:50pm
sorry to be the contrarian but if you ride a bike then, yes, they are pointless. If you've ever watched them yell at drivers you'd have to agree that they provide a necessary service. Its pretty apparent that drivers need a little guidance during high volume hours especially because this city has a reluctance to include green arrows for left turning vehicles. And they prioritize cars because getting the cars moving in and through the city is the priority. If Rahm really want to do something regarding transportation in this city, a simple dedicated bus lane would do wonders for getting people out of their cars.
Permalink Reply by Matt Tennessen on August 4, 2011 at 1:57am
Considering it took years for city govt to figure out how "bus bunching" occurred, I have little faith in seeing these dedicated bus lanes coming to be. Plus, they seem to want to utilize existing parking restrictions so these are rush hour-only lanes that will likely just get ignored. I hope I'm wrong, but I fear I'm not. I gladly go car-free but this is a city and that means numerous modes of transportation and that, like it or not, includes automobiles. Encouraging gridlock won't discourage car use, elimination of parking probably would, but not traffic jams. I think the city actually encourages traffic jams without designating turn lanes, actually paving bottleneck intersections, no restrictions on tractor-trailers, and part-time "no parking" areas. And people still get in their cars and give it a shot. I think its insane, but they still do it. Stop them from parking that vehicle and you'd get results.
Permalink Reply by Spencer "Thunderball" Thayer! on August 4, 2011 at 2:48am
Gonna agree with Matt here. Those ATM workers provide a much needed service. The reson they are there is because cars tend to obey traffic laws less when in rush hour traffic. The human interaction and direction does help keep the insanity at bay. You THINK you don't want to keep traffic moving but unorganized gridlock traffic slows your bike ride down a lot. I don't have a problem with the cuts in this regard but I can think of a couple other city jobs that do less and could use a good cut, like Mayor of Chicago.
Permalink Reply by Liz on August 4, 2011 at 3:30am

I think that all street parking in the loop (including Wells, Lake, and Wabash) should be either eliminated or the cost should go WAY up and limits increased. The more expensive it is to park downtown, the more appealing taking public transit becomes. 

 

I agree that people need to be told not to induce gridlock, but many of the TMA workers do not actually prevent this.  I have also seen TMA workers yelling at cars for not turning, when there are pedestrians with the signal in the crosswalk.  The remaining TMA employees need to be better trained and placed in key intersections as needed. For intersections with turning concerns installing traffic lights with a turn signal is the way to go.  Paying $80,000 once to install the light is a much better investment than paying $44,000/year to have a worker stand in traffic. 


Matt Tennessen said:

Considering it took years for city govt to figure out how "bus bunching" occurred, I have little faith in seeing these dedicated bus lanes coming to be. Plus, they seem to want to utilize existing parking restrictions so these are rush hour-only lanes that will likely just get ignored. I hope I'm wrong, but I fear I'm not. I gladly go car-free but this is a city and that means numerous modes of transportation and that, like it or not, includes automobiles. Encouraging gridlock won't discourage car use, elimination of parking probably would, but not traffic jams. I think the city actually encourages traffic jams without designating turn lanes, actually paving bottleneck intersections, no restrictions on tractor-trailers, and part-time "no parking" areas. And people still get in their cars and give it a shot. I think its insane, but they still do it. Stop them from parking that vehicle and you'd get results.
Permalink Reply by Steven Vance on August 4, 2011 at 1:05pm

The worst part about TMAs, from my perspective, was giving some of them authority to control the traffic signal phases/cycle. You'll see the TMA at a signal control box on one corner of an intersection (Clark and Harrison, and Division and Elston come to mind) holding a controller that's wired into the box. 

 

Then you wait. For. Five. Minutes. 

And it has no positive effect. Traffic remains congested, but now consistently blocks the intersection. 

Glad to see many of them go. 

Permalink Reply by Joel on August 5, 2011 at 6:38am
It is everyone's best interest that all modes of transportation move consistently and freely.  Cars blocking intersections are dangerous for bikes and make drivers frustrated, which is also dangerous. 

Gooseberry Pie! said:
Contradictory statements ;-)

Steven Vance said:
And it has no positive effect. Traffic remains congested, but now consistently blocks the intersection.

 

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