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[YES]

#1

Great Lakes and Ohio Valley / Re: Michigan Notes

Last post by rhen_var - Today at 04:02:28 PM

Cavnue: We want to test out some automated car stuff on a public roadway.
MDOT: Wanna take a GP lane on I-94 between Detroit and Ann Arbor to test out said features?
Cavnue: YES!
MDOT: 

I think that's actually pretty neat.  It's funded by Cavenue, not taxes, and regular cars can still use the lane (except for dedicated testing times, which, as noted in the video, only happens when the loss of the third lane isn't an issue).  It's also now a unique little stretch of freeway which is cool to see.

#2

Off-Topic / Re: Minor things that bother y...

Last post by 1995hoo - Today at 03:56:53 PM

Y'all might find the following Ninth Circuit opinion interesting. Essentially, when a woman in Oregon was released from jail, they returned her money via a debit card that charged her fees.

https://casetext.com/case/brown-v-stored-value-cards-inc-2

(The case was still going as of last fall—a Google search revealed another opinion from the district court.)

#3

Off-Topic / Re: Minor things that bother y...

Last post by vdeane - Today at 03:39:47 PM

More irritating to me are store gift cards, i.e. actual cash, that expire (how the fudge does cash expire?) or deduct a monthly "maintenance fee" after some number of months after purchase, like they have to take my card balance out for a walk or something.

I remember reading about those in the book Gotcha Capitalism (which has a lot of very, very good advice on avoiding BS fees and the like).  Gift cards even have a whole chapter in and of themselves.

That book also has a chapter on grocery stores, although it notes that rewards program BS isn't entirely unavoidable unless you want to pay more for groceries, as the stores also use it to track what customers buy.

If I had my druthers, merchants would not be allowed to sell anything with a deferred-redemption component unless the full value of said component were kept available to the customer without expiration.  This would mean:

*  Store gift cards and gift certificates would never expire.

*  Stored-value debit cards would never expire.  (I believe federal regulations already require this.)

*  Loyalty points would remain permanently available to the customer until used up.

*  At any point, the customer could demand the full face value in cash.

If this forced supermarket chains to phase out loyalty programs, I would not shed a tear.

What do you have against supermarket loyalty programs?

Anyway, I am with you until the last point. Why should the store have to redeem the card for cash?

What if the person has a gift card for a place they aren't interested in shopping at?  Or wants to change grocery stores without leaving a rewards balance (essentially impossible where I shop, as you can't redeem and earn points in the same transaction).

#4

Canada / Re: Quebec's Highways

Last post by vdeane - Today at 03:30:35 PM

^ Yukon and NWT max out at 90km/h, and Nunavut's roads (the few it has are all locally-maintained, except in territorial parks) even less. AFAIK (haven't been there lately), in Newfoundland the speed limits tend to be 10km/h lower than for comparable highways in Quebec.

None of the territories have freeways, and 90 matches the maximum MTQ will post on anything that isn't an autoroute or QC 175 between Québec and Saguenay.  And Nunavut doesn't have long-distance rural mileage.

#5

Off-Topic / Re: Minor things that bother y...

Last post by SEWIGuy - Today at 03:18:17 PM

If I had my druthers, merchants would not be allowed to sell anything with a deferred-redemption component unless the full value of said component were kept available to the customer without expiration.  This would mean:

*  Store gift cards and gift certificates would never expire.

*  Stored-value debit cards would never expire.  (I believe federal regulations already require this.)

*  Loyalty points would remain permanently available to the customer until used up.

*  At any point, the customer could demand the full face value in cash.

If this forced supermarket chains to phase out loyalty programs, I would not shed a tear.

What do you have against supermarket loyalty programs?

Anyway, I am with you until the last point. Why should the store have to redeem the card for cash?

#6

Mid-Atlantic / Re: Francis Scott Key Bridge (...

Last post by vdeane - Today at 03:18:01 PM

If we're gonna go for an uncontroversial name, might as well go for a fictional character.

The Avatar Kyoshi Memorial Skyway?  Although I like the design of Kyoshi Bridge in Republic City better than the cable-stayed mania the US is currently under.

#7

Mid-Atlantic / Re: Francis Scott Key Bridge (...

Last post by J N Winkler - Today at 01:58:24 PM

I think there is a slender possibility that MdTA will want a new name for the Key Bridge replacement just so that the two-letter facility abbreviation, which typically appears in contract numbers, does not match that of a structure that no longer exists.  This would be comparable to how the Thruway Authority (which acronymizes not just major structures but also geographic divisions through which the mainline Thruway passes) uses "GMMCB" to reference the current Tappan Zee crossing.

#8

Traffic Control / Re: Unique, Odd, or Interestin...

Last post by wanderer2575 - Today at 01:57:55 PM

Half guide sign, half assembly in Grayling MI.  What the... ??

Supplemental signage, I would have to guess.

Note the complete assembly a little farther along (lower left corner of the photo).  Why didn't they do that here as well?

#9

Mid-South / Re: April bid openings: $1.09 ...

Last post by J N Winkler - Today at 01:47:29 PM

I've personally never found I-35 over the Red River to be intolerably congested, but it does carry significant volumes for a rural Interstate, and the northern of the two projects under discussion will finally remove the 45 MPH advisory curve at the south end of the bridge.  I've always found it ironic that drivers on this route have to slow down when entering the state that has 75 MPH speed limits on two-lane rural highways.

In a more literal sense the same argument often seems to be made for expanding I-15 from Barstow to Primm. Why should California pay for upgrading a highway that gets people out of the state to spend money. Well, my opinion is because they have an obligation to upgrade the road to keep traffic moving at acceptable levels and keep people on its roads as safe as possible whether they're residents or not.

I suspect California's hands may be tied since there is no plausible way to argue that a project adding lanes to I-15 won't increase VMT and thus be forbidden under current state law.

#10

Photos, Videos, and More / Re: END signs

Last post by wanderer2575 - Today at 01:47:19 PM

Confusing assembly at the northern terminus of Roscommon County 101 at BL I-75 west of Roscommon MI.