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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."
According to this it was a Data General main frame from the 1980s and not from the 1970s. Anyone know what model?
Green lights are often blue to accommodate reg/green color blindness.
I live here too and it was mayhem last night. It took me 2.5 hours to get home from work which usually takes 25 minutes. (6 miles) Many of my coworkers and friends have also reported major headaches... We were sitting at traffic lights with nowhere to go for sometimes up to 5 cycles of the lights. What I heard is that there is a different timing for rush hours that lets more traffic flow south in the morning and north in the evenings. The worst areas according to news reports are Rockville Pike, which I experienced last night, Connecticut Ave, Georgia Ave and Rt 29. The official word is that some board blew in the main computer and they are unable to find "parts" to replace it. I am not certain about the details. The county website is reporting that all traffic lights are going to have to be manually updated one-by-one. There are 800 intersections.
Here's a link: http://www.wmata.com/about_metro/news/PressReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=4133
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No one fixes infrastructure until it's broken. That's pretty standard everywhere.
Los Angeles has had an increase in water main breaks also. They fix the spot as they break. If I remember their numbers, they expect about 400 to 700 main breaks per year.
Who cares about the old mini/mainframe running the traffic lights. If it's run since the 70's or 80's, it'll run forever. I always love that intelligence. I like to laugh about it more when it fails too. :)
Serious? Seriousness is well above my pay grade.
I live in downtown Silver Spring. I commute from Columbia. It's usually a 30 minute drive, but last night took me an hour and a half. The worst part was when I crossed Georgia Ave a block from my home, right by the DC border. That last block took me 20 minutes.
I was trying to figure out what was up with the traffic. I didn't see any accidents or emergency vehicles, and the traffic reports I heard just said that traffic on Georgia was slow. Didn't hear anything about the control system until today.
Willis? I think you have the wrong movie.
It's actually most likely VMS, and it's most likely going to require them to find whoever they laid off in order to outsource their 'legacy' system.
An operating system should be like a light switch... simple, effective, easy to use, and designed for everyone.
In the Italian Job, they gridlock a city by replacing the tape in the city's (Turin) traffic management system.
I have seen Die Hard 4, but I really wish I could un-see it. A terrible film, with a terrible plot, terrible portrayal of computer systems (even worse than the usual hollywood fair, and not even lampooned BPS-style), and it didn't even have decent enough mindless action to compensate.
Biking to work in Montgomery County would be suicidal. I use mass transit and have been hit by cars while using crosswalks twice in 3 years. I simply cannot imagine the additional danger to someone who bikes to work every day surrounded by MD drivers.
What if this weren't a hypothetical question?
You misunderstand. They have reliable equipment, and they are installing more of it. So they are installing more reliable equipment.
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
Some places (like NYC) have a box painted around the intersection. If you stop inside that box you will get a ticket. It is your responsibility to know you can make it all the way though before you enter it.
Being from Buffalo I was curious that I'd never heard of that - turns out it's actually in Syracuse, which is two cities east of Buffalo (Rochester in between) and about a two and a half hour drive :)
Here's some info,
And here's a photo.
I once visited a factory for cattle feed where all silos were controlled by an ancient PDP computer. This was a few years ago. When I asked why it was not replaced by a more modern machine the answer was that all timings for the diverse outlets of the silos (and thus the mixture of the products) were so precise that it would be nearly impossible to reproduce on another platform, taking into account things like the speed of commands executed in programming languages, processing times of cpu etc.
I think it is possible for a complex system like a huge traffic control system might have similar issues, where a fraction of a second can make the difference between a free flow of traffic and congestion. (Although, while typing this it starts to sound less plausible...).
Anyway, my €0,02 are in now.
What person will donate an airborne act of love?
Cyclists don't use bike lane in DC. Perfect example is MacArthur Blvd. There is a very nice bike lane that I have used a few times, bu cyclists insist on using the road, even at rush our, which as another commenter pointed out is suicide around here.
The shoppers also make Rockville Pike a particularly frustrating road to travel on weekends this time of year. Given that the control system will not be repaired until at least the middle of next week, this weekend is probably going to make for some horrendous driving in that area.
This is Montgomery County, Maryland, we're talking about -- tax-cut/reduce-government fanatics NEVER come into power here.
1970s traffic control is most likely RT-11 on a PDP variant. I could fix it but I want a lot of money as I suspect there aren't too many people left that know the arcane rites required.
The new right fascists are bilingual. They speak English and Bullshit.
You continue to be an idiot.
Overall taxes have gone up.
The value of the dollar continues to spiral mercilessly downward.
The government ooze seeps further and further into our alleged rights.
There is no debating this.
If you want numbers, get them yourself.
Non sequitur? What the fuck? Logically, what I said makes perfect fucking sense. Overall, taxes have gone up. It's provable, You do the math.
Pay increases? Son, we're all on paycuts and furloughs over here. Maybe when you grow up and get a job and pay taxes you'll understand, but it's clear you have the financial knowledge of a 14 year old.
Why the fuck would I waste my time proving something so obviously to an idiot who so obviously just wants to troll?