Travel Time Sign

[sp_redelectric]

Washington has a few in the Seattle area. 

WSDOT, in the Seattle area, is definitely good with traffic information to the customer.

ODOT always seems to be catching up to WSDOT.  WSDOT had live cameras, the website, streaming video, all several years before ODOT.  And the latest is variable speed zones - Oregon has one in place with a second about to open, while WSDOT has been doing it on Snoqualmie Pass for years and now on I-5 in Seattle for a couple years.

[Takumi]

There are at least two of these. This one is on US 13/58/460 approaching I-664. There's another on I-664 in the same area.

It said 28 minutes for both, but for some reason my camera didn't catch it.

[formulanone]

^ The displays usually work on a 30/60Hz refresh rate, so a faster shutter speed when facing that display directly might make it disappear entirely. Shooting the display from an angle might yield different results, although that's why sometimes the pictures you see appear to have "dropped pixels".

Take a photo of your favorite TV show at something like 1/100 second, and see what happens. The results can be erratic, until you drop down to 1/25 second or slower.

[deathtopumpkins]

There are at least two of these. This one is on US 13/58/460 approaching I-664. There's another on I-664 in the same area.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-1cPo6Ek0_Cs/UARENo3a8fI/AAAAAAAACvU/baTlGOMKIcc/s816/DSC01127.JPG
It said 28 minutes for both, but for some reason my camera didn't catch it.

There are now several of those around the Hampton Roads area, some for the Va Beach Oceanfront and some for the Outer Banks.

[Takumi]

^ The displays usually work on a 30/60Hz refresh rate, so a faster shutter speed when facing that display directly might make it disappear entirely. Shooting the display from an angle might yield different results, although that's why sometimes the pictures you see appear to have "dropped pixels".

Take a photo of your favorite TV show at something like 1/100 second, and see what happens. The results can be erratic, until you drop down to 1/25 second or slower.

Interesting. That would also explain why another travel time sign I photographed (for I-495 on I-95) had the same issue.

[bulkyorled]

It would probably be a helpful if they put them around Los Angeles more. There's at least 3 that always show drive time that I can think of but not a lot of them.
210 West past Wheatland Av almost always has 5 North & 14 North times to destination
170 South drive time to downtown
101 North (west) at Laurel Cyn will show mins to 405 South, 23 and 126
But maybe more specific is what would work. 5 North minutes to Burbank/Glendale or 10 West minutes to 710. The 101 one always seemed a little useless to me and most people don't take the 210 past the 118 and even if they do it thins out even more by the time you get to the 5/14

[mapman1071]

It would probably be a helpful if they put them around Los Angeles more. There's at least 3 that always show drive time that I can think of but not a lot of them.
210 West past Wheatland Av almost always has 5 North & 14 North times to destination
170 South drive time to downtown
101 North (west) at Laurel Cyn will show mins to 405 South, 23 and 126
But maybe more specific is what would work. 5 North minutes to Burbank/Glendale or 10 West minutes to 710. The 101 one always seemed a little useless to me and most people don't take the 210 past the 118 and even if they do it thins out even more by the time you get to the 5/14

You would also have to add hours to the signs!

[myosh_tino]

^ The displays usually work on a 30/60Hz refresh rate, so a faster shutter speed when facing that display directly might make it disappear entirely. Shooting the display from an angle might yield different results, although that's why sometimes the pictures you see appear to have "dropped pixels".

Take a photo of your favorite TV show at something like 1/100 second, and see what happens. The results can be erratic, until you drop down to 1/25 second or slower.

Interesting. That would also explain why another travel time sign I photographed (for I-495 on I-95) had the same issue.

Not meaning to go completely off-topic but that explanation about the refresh rate does explain why I see the shot clock/game clock displays on top of the backboards fade in and out when I'm watching NBA or college basketball on TV.

[agentsteel53]

Not meaning to go completely off-topic but that explanation about the refresh rate does explain why I see the shot clock/game clock displays on top of the backboards fade in and out when I'm watching NBA or college basketball on TV.

I've always thought it a little bit archaic that they use a camera trained on the physical display as the shot clock indicator on TV.  this as opposed to splicing off the digital feed which is sent to the scoreboard.

[formulanone]

I've always thought it a little bit archaic that they use a camera trained on the physical display as the shot clock indicator on TV.  this as opposed to splicing off the digital feed which is sent to the scoreboard.

That's generally a rare occurrence to see anymore, but I suppose there's a few stadia/arenas that still do it. You get a sense of the "crowd going wild" when the zoomed-in shot shakes a little bit during a crucial moment of a game. [/even more off-topic]

Here's an example of parking-lot lighting, with a slow, gentle pan at 3.2 seconds. Notice how the lighting has a  "moment of darkness" within a pattern of brightness? Same principle; I suppose all lighting works on the concept of cycles per second, but I didn't stay awake long enough in class long enough to fully understand why this happens; I suppose everything within an electrical circuit is not completely instantaneous.

[WillWeaverRVA]

Here's the other Virginia Beach travel time sign (on eastbound I-664), with visible numbers. I used a shutter speed of 1/400 second at f/7.1, but then again, it is at an angle. I've managed to get VMS pictures straight-on, I'm wondering if it has to do with luck and shutter speeds faster than the sign's refresh rate.

[DTComposer]

It would probably be a helpful if they put them around Los Angeles more. There's at least 3 that always show drive time that I can think of but not a lot of them.
210 West past Wheatland Av almost always has 5 North & 14 North times to destination
170 South drive time to downtown
101 North (west) at Laurel Cyn will show mins to 405 South, 23 and 126
But maybe more specific is what would work. 5 North minutes to Burbank/Glendale or 10 West minutes to 710. The 101 one always seemed a little useless to me and most people don't take the 210 past the 118 and even if they do it thins out even more by the time you get to the 5/14

I-405 has several of them: Northbound in Long Beach around Cherry Avenue - one usually shows time to I-110 and LAX; around Hawthorne or Artesia Blvd. one shows time to LAX and I-10. Southbound around Wilmington one usually shows time to I-605 and...I don't remember. There's also at least one on CA-91 around Downey Avenue.

[bulkyorled]

It would probably be a helpful if they put them around Los Angeles more. There's at least 3 that always show drive time that I can think of but not a lot of them.
210 West past Wheatland Av almost always has 5 North & 14 North times to destination
170 South drive time to downtown
101 North (west) at Laurel Cyn will show mins to 405 South, 23 and 126
But maybe more specific is what would work. 5 North minutes to Burbank/Glendale or 10 West minutes to 710. The 101 one always seemed a little useless to me and most people don't take the 210 past the 118 and even if they do it thins out even more by the time you get to the 5/14

You would also have to add hours to the signs!

Thats true, god knows if you put over 60 mins it would confuse people

[NE2]

Yeah, who the hell would put hours on signs?

Oh...

[agentsteel53]

Thats true, god knows if you put over 60 mins it would confuse people

I've seen a 75 once; it was on 5 southbound at the 170 split and that was the time for "downtown via 101".  Eek!  it's about 12 miles.

[formulanone]

Thats true, god knows if you put over 60 mins it would confuse people

If there's anything I learned form MTV, it's that 120 Minutes equals two hours.

Actually, I knew that before, but I'm trying to make excuses.

[hobsini2]

Thats true, god knows if you put over 60 mins it would confuse people

I've seen a 75 once; it was on 5 southbound at the 170 split and that was the time for "downtown via 101".  Eek!  it's about 12 miles.

Quite often during a snowstorm in Chicagoland, you can see the travel times displayed in the hundreds of minutes rather than hours.  I remember during the Feb 2/3, 2011 blizzard had travel times on I-88 Eastbound the VMS near Orchard Rd had a travel time to I-294 of 133 minutes. In no traffic, the time is usually about 24 minutes.

[1995hoo]

I wonder how they'd display the 13+ hour travel times people here encountered during January 2011's messy snowstorm. 

[Takumi]

It might as well have said "Dude, just go home."

[1995hoo]

It might as well have said "Dude, just go home."

That's what people were trying to do!

[CentralCAroadgeek]

Washington has a few in the Seattle area. 

[myosh_tino]

Knowing how totally unpredictable Seattle area traffic is (made numerous trips to visit relatives), that is a very helpful sign.  Logic says I-405 is the fastest route to Bellevue but congestion through Renton is a real problem which might make I-5 to I-90 a faster route.  I also find it interesting that the displays can accommodate 3 digits.

[Scott5114]

Not meaning to go completely off-topic but that explanation about the refresh rate does explain why I see the shot clock/game clock displays on top of the backboards fade in and out when I'm watching NBA or college basketball on TV.

I've always thought it a little bit archaic that they use a camera trained on the physical display as the shot clock indicator on TV.  this as opposed to splicing off the digital feed which is sent to the scoreboard.

I always love seeing old game shows where they would show the player's winnings at the end by training a camera on the score display and luminance keying (essentially green screen but keying out black instead of green) it over the shot of the winner celebrating. Family Feud did something similar for the timer during the bonus round.

[algorerhythms]

I've always thought it a little bit archaic that they use a camera trained on the physical display as the shot clock indicator on TV.  this as opposed to splicing off the digital feed which is sent to the scoreboard.

That's generally a rare occurrence to see anymore, but I suppose there's a few stadia/arenas that still do it. You get a sense of the "crowd going wild" when the zoomed-in shot shakes a little bit during a crucial moment of a game. [/even more off-topic]

Here's an example of parking-lot lighting, with a slow, gentle pan at 3.2 seconds. Notice how the lighting has a  "moment of darkness" within a pattern of brightness? Same principle; I suppose all lighting works on the concept of cycles per second, but I didn't stay awake long enough in class long enough to fully understand why this happens; I suppose everything within an electrical circuit is not completely instantaneous.

Most street lights use various types of arc lamps rather than the incandescent bulbs most people are used to. If those were incandescent bulbs you wouldn't see that pattern, but arc lamps only make light when the voltage across the bulb is enough to make a spark in the vapor in the bulb. The electrical power for the lights is AC, 60 Hz in the U.S., and 50 Hz in some other countries, so instead of producing a constant light, the arc lamps only produce light when the voltage is away from the center of the wave, so you'll see a pulsing in the light at double the frequency of the AC line (120 Hz). Since the camera is most likely taking shots at a lower frequency, instead of seeing a 120 Hz pattern, we'll see a lower-frequency beat wave.

[CentralCAroadgeek]

Now THIS is an awesome VMS, I mean, a freaking route shield on a VMS! Where else has this been done?