Computer Failure Causes Gridlock In MD County

Uncle Rummy writes "A central traffic control computer in Montgomery County, Maryland failed early Wednesday morning, leading to widespread gridlock across the entire county. The computer, which dates to the 1970s, is the single point of unified control for all traffic signals in the county, which comprises a number of major Washington DC-area suburban communities. When the system failed, it caused all signals to default to stand-alone operation, rather than the highly-tuned synchronization that usually serves to facilitate traffic flow during rush hours. The resulting chaos is a yet another stark reminder of how much modern civilization relies on behind-the-scenes automation to deliver and control basic services and infrastructure. The system remains down Thursday, with no ETA in sight."

Comments

Re:1970's computer

[NoYob]

The is Washinton DC. It is governed by Congress. They won't take your freebie.

What they'll do is have the committee in charge of that farm out a "study" that will spend months figuring out what they need. Then said committee will hire the buddy of the Congressman that is owed the most favors. Said buddy will then have to do a cost plus design, implementation and install of system. Here' s the cost break down with Washington DC/Hollywood accounting standards:

Driving to computer store: $250,000
Picking out computer: $100,000
Cost of computer: $350
driving computer to Dot office: $250,000
Installation: $164,032.32
Writing and printing invoice: $56,473.45
--------------
Total: $5,0000,0000*

*I said Washinton DC/Hollywood accounting standards. Geeze!

Re:I live there

[Bigjeff5]

We have pretty good bike paths along the sides of the streets where I live, but no experienced rider uses them. I asked a co-worker who biked to work why, and he told me the only times he's ever been hit or had a close call was when he was using the bike paths + crosswalks instead of riding in the road with traffic.

The reason is pretty simple if you think about your own and other's driving habits: dumbass drivers coming up to the light or coming to a main street from a side street do NOT check to see if there is a biker about to cross before pulling up. In this case, nearly all drivers qualify as dumbass drivers, because they are literally breaking the law almost every time they stop at a light or intersection (you are supposed to stop before the path/crosswalk and pull up if no pedestrians are coming). This means a biker can have a clear right-of-way (walk sign + traffic moving his direction) and still have people pull out in front of him or, if the timing is bad, even hit a biker using a crosswalk.

When bikers ride in the road with the cars, the people driving, no matter how much they may curse at the bikers, are forced to notice them. Crossing intersections and side streets, making turns, waiting for traffic, EVERYTHING becomes safer.

Bike lanes in the road are only better if drivers are forced to notice the bikers in the process.