Mystery White Bar Traffic Signal in Baltimore

[talllguy]

I shot this video this afternoon at the intersection of N Greene St and W Lombard St in Baltimore, MD USA. The camera is facing south.

What is the odd looking signal between the No Turn on Red sign and the Pedestrian sign? I tried to film all the phases.

Note that it looks very similar the the signals the Light Rail adheres to when in mixed traffic with cars. The Light Rail signals were apparently designed so as not to be understandable by cars.

Watch it in HD!

[Zmapper]

Is there a bus-only curb lane present? Generally, the phases for white transit signals are:
"-" Stop
".", or "△" Caution/Yellow
"|" Proceed

When the horizontal bar appears, the light changes to green, which leads me to believe that there is (or was, and the agency responsible didn't remove the traffic light when changing street markings) a bus-only curb lane.

[txstateends]

In downtown Dallas, there are similar signals aimed at the light rail trains in each direction.
Here's one: http://goo.gl/maps/AY7r9
Since all the light rail routes meet downtown, and all are at-grade, they have to go in sync with each other, and with the vehicular signal light timing for streets that cross along the way.

[talllguy]

Is there a bus-only curb lane present? Generally, the phases for white transit signals are:
"-" Stop
".", or "△" Caution/Yellow
"|" Proceed

When the horizontal bar appears, the light changes to green, which leads me to believe that there is (or was, and the agency responsible didn't remove the traffic light when changing street markings) a bus-only curb lane.

Very interesting and useful, thanks! There is no bus only curb lane, however buses are exempt from the curb lane right turn only restriction.

I found out what this is for from some local transit enthusiasts. This signal is an indication for buses in the right lane that they can proceed, whilst the other two directions are halted. The reason for this is so that the buses can get a jump on traffic to make a left turn at the next signal.

Since buses usually ride the curb, it can be hard to cross 3 lanes of traffic in one block to make a left. This special signal lets the bus go ahead. When the | is active, all traffic is halted otherwise. There is a No Turn on Red for the westbound traffic, since left on red is normally a legal maneuver.

Source: https://twitter.com/lake_trout/status/454710512337829888

[roadfro]

This appears to be an older transit signal, since it is a 2-section design using the flashing vertical bar as a yellow clear interval. Current MUTCD standards call for a 3-section design with flashing triangle in the middle section as the yellow clear interval.

Is the right lane with buses the same lane as regular vehicular traffic turning right with the protected turn light? It seems to be be since the protected turn and the transit signal change simultaneously. If it's not, and a bus is going straight through this intersection with right turns in the next lane, that's a major operational conflict.

[kj3400]

It's weird, because that's the only one in the city. There's nowhere else where I could think this would pop up.

This appears to be an older transit signal, since it is a 2-section design using the flashing vertical bar as a yellow clear interval. Current MUTCD standards call for a 3-section design with flashing triangle in the middle section as the yellow clear interval.

Is the right lane with buses the same lane as regular vehicular traffic turning right with the protected turn light? It seems to be be since the protected turn and the transit signal change simultaneously. If it's not, and a bus is going straight through this intersection with right turns in the next lane, that's a major operational conflict.

The right lane is indeed for buses and right turns.

[KEK Inc.]

I've seen many transit signals, but I thought the yellow/white bar was a new thing (since 2000).  I know San Bernardino has a new express bus with bus priority signals, but they're still two signals.  I have yet to see a three-section design (apart from a normal signal with a sign saying, "Bus Signal" a la Seattle).

[Zeffy]

Out of curiosity, did you use a smartphone or a video camera to shoot this? I ask that because the quality is pretty damn clear. Also, I've never seen these signals before, but then again I live in a suburban town with barely any public transportation (we have a bus, I think).

[Duke87]

New York City has a few places where a bus lane is allowed to proceed before the rest of traffic, but they accomplish this with an ordinary RYG signal (with louvers) plus a "buses only signal" regulatory sign, not with an LRT signal.

Is it even proper to use LRT signals in a bus lane? I thought they were supposed to be specifically for light rail.

[Zmapper]

Fort Collins has no less than three different types of transit-only traffic signals.

1. Mountain at Shields. This signal was installed in 2009 (?) after repeated near-misses between the historic summer-only trolley and cross traffic. The top indication is a horizontal bar, and the bottom is a vertical bar, like the signal in talllguy's video.

2. Stover at Prospect. The bus indication was installed sometime around 2007 in an effort to keep buses on the #18 route on schedule. Normally, the signal operates as a pedestrian-activated crossing. When a bus arrives from the north, the driver reaches over the dash and hits a garage door opener (the opener also controls a bus-only gate on the CSU campus), which changes the traffic light to red and illuminates the bus indication. The bus can then proceed left without waiting for a gap in traffic suitable for a large vehicle.

3. No link, but the new transit-only signals installed along the MAX BRT route have three indicators; a horizontal bar, a dot, and a vertical bar.

[roadfro]

This appears to be an older transit signal, since it is a 2-section design using the flashing vertical bar as a yellow clear interval. Current MUTCD standards call for a 3-section design with flashing triangle in the middle section as the yellow clear interval.

I've seen many transit signals, but I thought the yellow/white bar was a new thing (since 2000).  I know San Bernardino has a new express bus with bus priority signals, but they're still two signals.  I have yet to see a three-section design (apart from a normal signal with a sign saying, "Bus Signal" a la Seattle).

Actually, I was mistaken. The current MUTCD has two layouts, the three section design described upthread as well as the two section design in the OP's video.

Is it even proper to use LRT signals in a bus lane? I thought they were supposed to be specifically for light rail.

I've always thought of these as "transit signals". In Las Vegas a few years ago, they used 3-section LRT signals to control the dedicated center-running bus lanes on Grand Central Pkwy--not sure if they've used them on curb bus lanes on a couple subsequent projects...

However, the MUTCD specifically refers to these as LRT signals. I didn't see any references to bus lanes and traffic signals.

[KEK Inc.]

[talllguy]

Out of curiosity, did you use a smartphone or a video camera to shoot this? I ask that because the quality is pretty damn clear. Also, I've never seen these signals before, but then again I live in a suburban town with barely any public transportation (we have a bus, I think).

Smartphone. iPhone 5. Used the Youtube Capture app, which did the stitching and soundtrack on the fly. Youtube does stabilization (post processing) on the server.

[Zeffy]

Smartphone. iPhone 5. Used the Youtube Capture app, which did the stitching and soundtrack on the fly. Youtube does stabilization (post processing) on the server.

iPhone 5? 5c? 5s? I have a 5c and I would never think I could just go outside and get high quality video like that...

[talllguy]

@zeffy

Regular iPhone 5. It shoots 1080p, but I only uploaded 720p to Youtube, that's all you really need for this kind of thing. The iPhone 5+ camera is something of marvel. For these videos I used a tree to steady my hand while filming. You can definitely get out there and make some great video if the lighting is right.

[mrsman]

New York City has a few places where a bus lane is allowed to proceed before the rest of traffic, but they accomplish this with an ordinary RYG signal (with louvers) plus a "buses only signal" regulatory sign, not with an LRT signal.

Is it even proper to use LRT signals in a bus lane? I thought they were supposed to be specifically for light rail.

I don't know about legalities, but to me it seems a lot better and less confusing to not have an identical light for busses if the light is a different phase from prevailing traffic.  So if busses have a green light, but every one else has a red light, LRT signals are a lot less confusing then just a sign that says "bus only signal".


In Cleveland they use three aspect lights like this along Euclid Avenue (bus lane): http://goo.gl/maps/aUBcF

At the intersection posted, it would be really confusing if they used standard lights for the bus lane, since the through bus is to the left of the left turn lane.  IMO a specialized signal is the only safe option here.

Now look at the Chandler bus lane in North Hollywood, CA:  http://goo.gl/maps/9Xly4
There are three signal faces for the bus only lane.  Yes, there is a lens in front to prevent those drivers not in the bus lane from seeing the signal, but still, there are a lot of signals for drivers to keep track of.

[webfil]

New York City has a few places where a bus lane is allowed to proceed before the rest of traffic, but they accomplish this with an ordinary RYG signal (with louvers) plus a "buses only signal" regulatory sign, not with an LRT signal.

Is it even proper to use LRT signals in a bus lane? I thought they were supposed to be specifically for light rail.

I don't know about legalities, but to me it seems a lot better and less confusing to not have an identical light for busses if the light is a different phase from prevailing traffic.  So if busses have a green light, but every one else has a red light, LRT signals are a lot less confusing then just a sign that says "bus only signal".

We don't have any light rail in Québec, but the cigarette light (no joke, that's how transit authorities call it) is widespread throughout larger cities. We also have «BUS» RYG lights, but those are exclusive to bus-dedicated trafic or flow (BRT corridors, terminuses, bus ramps, etc.), whereas cigarette lights are exclusive to street trafic (bus lane present or not) when movement priority is required at one intersection.

http://goo.gl/maps/4EWs0 : That bus boarding lotsa people (that instersection is the connection between two high-freq bus lines) will get the priority at next cycle; it surely will not have enough of the 10 remaining seconds of green to board all of that queue.