One more symptom of over crowding

[GunnyGene]

Some small communities are fighting back.

Excerpt:

Navigation Apps Are Turning Quiet Neighborhoods Into Traffic Nightmares

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/24/nyregion/traffic-apps-gps-neighborhoods.html

LEONIA, N.J. — It is bumper to bumper as far as the eye can see, the kind of soul-sucking traffic jam that afflicts highways the way bad food afflicts rest stops.

Suddenly, a path to hope presents itself: An alternate route, your smartphone suggests, can save time. Next thing you know, you’re headed down an exit ramp, blithely following directions into the residential streets of some unsuspecting town, along with a slew of other frustrated motorists.

Scenes like this are playing out across the country, not just in traffic-choked regions of the Northeast. But one town has had enough.

With services like Google Maps, Waze and Apple Maps suggesting shortcuts for commuters through the narrow, hilly streets of Leonia, N.J., the borough has decided to fight back against congestion that its leaders say has reached crisis proportions.

In mid-January, the borough’s police force will close 60 streets to all drivers aside from residents and people employed in the borough during the morning and afternoon rush periods, effectively taking most of the town out of circulation for the popular traffic apps — and for everyone else, for that matter.

“Without question, the game changer has been the navigation apps,” said Tom Rowe, Leonia’s police chief. “In the morning, if I sign onto my Waze account, I find there are 250,000 ‘Wazers’ in the area. When the primary roads become congested, it directs vehicles into Leonia and pushes them onto secondary and tertiary roads. We have had days when people can’t get out of their driveways.”

Even before the proliferation of navigation apps, Leonia was no stranger to traffic. Ringed by Interstate 95, and in the shadow of the George Washington Bridge, Leonia sits next to some of the most congested roadways in the country.

 

[bobski]

rats living like rats complaining about rats. lol.

 

[vito]

Only senior citizens should be allowed to use GPS devices.

 

[Fox Mike]

Only senior citizens should be allowed to use GPS devices.

Not even that! I have used one ONCE. I installed it in a rental car at the airport in San Antonio. It was suggested that we get one since the streets of the city can be difficult to manage. It was supposed to lead me to my destination, ten miles West on I-10. It got me lost!. I ended up following its directions and found myself heading back to San Antonio. I knew immediately it was wrong, turned it off, threw it under the front seat, grabbed a paper map, and drove right to our motel. Never used one since. I taught map reading while in Army green so a paper map to me is easy.

 

[JFB]

I traveled for work a lot. Prior I used DeLorme's Gazettes for detail maps of an area. I got DeLorme's first GPS base mapping software and allowed it to chose a path for a direct scenic return to NC across the Appalachians. it took us on a logging road up the west side of Mt Mitchell.

 

[contender]

I use a GPS for my work. It's a time saver & easier to follow than many of the directions I used to get from customers.
BUT,,, you have to program them to give you the correct type of travel you desire. Most direct, fastest, major roads only etc.
For my uses,, 99% of the time,, they are great.

 

[Montelores]

"Over-crowding."

People (Americans specifically, in this case) choose to live and work in one area of the country.

Maybe it's not the choice that many of us might make, but family, work, friends, lifestyle, money, drive (forgive the pun) our choices.

And the author seems to have his sights set on the "apps" which make the short-cuts viable to the working commuters, not on the neighborhoods themselves.

I mean, it's the NY Times, discussing the environs of NYC, right?

:wink:

Monty

 

[wunbe]

Hire ex military electronic jammers or turn your grandkids loose with their computers.

Game over.

 

[Mobuck]

I don't know how many times Tom has commented about being somewhere and I asked why he was THERE. His reply: my GPS said it was the best route. About 1/2 the time, it was marginally "better" but the other 1/2 not so much.
Quite often, I pick my route using computer maps but I don't have mobile GPS or map access(yet). For our New Mexico trip, I used the computer maps to run different route scenarios until I found something I liked. Just blindly following "what's her name" on the dash isn't something I'm comfortable with.

 

[Mike J]

I usually just use the map app on my phone. FWIW working commercial construction there is no telling where I am going. Not usually travelling out of state but I have on occasion. It is a lot easier than when they used to give us a Xerox copy with hand written directions, a hand drawn map & an address.

GPS-map apps have messed me up also. I grew up just outside the perimeter South of Atlanta. I now live 30 or 40 miles further South. I know almost every back road & pig trail between here & there. Used to if the Interstate backed up I could get off the Interstate & hit the back roads & slip through with no problem. Often there wouldn't even be any other vehicles on the roads I would use. Since everyone has these devices when I try it now there is always a lot of traffic.

 

[Conservative]

I live on what may be considered a 'dead end' street, but you have to travel a loooooooooong way to discover that.

Only occasionally does some lost soul happen to find this out and man are they ever surprised, most especially if they're pulling a trailer. They have to back and fill repeatedly as my driveway is gated.

Before the gate, the public would use my driveway without regard, not anymore....

 

[GetGunz]

rats living like rats complaining about rats. lol.

FPNI LOL

 

[Colonialgirl]

Funniest thing I ever saw was in Orange County area of Buena Park; Out on a paint complaint with the guy from Sears; we kept finding sections of the street we were looking for, BUT with the wrong house numbers; There must have been about five of those before we found the right street section and then were scratching our heads as the numbers went from 4 digits to 5; WTH ??? drove down the block and discovered at ONE point, the numbers went from 5 BACK to 4. To top it ALL OFF, at the circle at the end of the block side by side, One with 4 digits and the other with 5 digits. Found the house we needed, and learned that the City Limits/County line went down that street, but the lines weren't straight. :shock: :shock: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: .

 

[Captain America]

According to their website the Leonia police department has 18 employees, this is unenforceable on several levels. Residents will need identification stickers on their cars and "rush periods" are going to have to be defined.

 

[eveled]

Before the gate, the public would use my driveway without regard, not anymore....

I'm curious why you chose to gate it in a way that makes it har d to turn around?

I see a lot of signs, no turning in driveway. Why would they care? Especially in rural areas my road is only 20 feet wide, but the town owns 40 feet. The first ten feet of my driveway and lawn isn't even mine.

Not being critical, just trying to understand.

My friend has a long driveway, that GPS thinks is a street that is actually a mile down the road.

GPS is sending people up his private drive that think they are on a street. He has never been able to straighten it out.

I had GPS take me down somebody's drive way, and actually drove under his deck to avoid going another 75 feet and taking a turn at the intersection. Leaves me wondering if it is a GPS issue or an illegal deck, over an easment of some sort.

Now I know enough to look ahead on the map and avoid those types of things. GPS can be a life saver, but when you know where you are going you see the mistakes it makes. When you don't know where you are going it is making the same mistakes, but you don't know.

 

[bobski]

I use bps......brain positioning system.
then I break out the FM10-common sense manual (the map) and the map compass issued to me, in the army.
never fails me. and when it does, I call it an adventure.

thus the old saying, its not about the destination, its the journey.

 

[Conservative]

eveled,

I had my entire yard (over 2 acres) fenced in originally to keep my neighbors dogs from fertilizing my yard, plus feral hogs were starting to tear it up.

Now, on to the gate.

My driveway is wide enough to accommodate 2 cars. It's long and wide.

Within the first week we moved I spotted 2 cars in my driveway positioned driver to driver (I didn't know them) and one passes something from one to the other as both had their windows down. I really didn't care for that. What they were doing was very suspicious...on my property.

Then, one morning I discovered heavy school buses were using my driveway (cracking it) to turn around and sometimes coming off the driveway to rut my yard.

Given the dog messes, possible drug deals done in my driveway, the buses and then the feral hog damage, I had the fence and gate installed.

Problems solved.

No, I didn't have this done to cause problems for others, but to stop them for me.

If, someone comes down the street they now using my neighbors driveways to turn around, but yes, mine is the most convenient were it not gated.

I don't owe the public the use of my driveway for their convenience or what have you...

If I sound a little frosty it's not aimed at you.

Oh, I forgot to add, someone actually had the temerity to park his car in my driveway and walk away. I caught up with him as he looked like some sort of door to door salesman. Told him to move his car. I was open carrying. He said not one word, but immediately moved out of my driveway. What nerve this guy had...

Guess I sound like an old curmudgeon...

Fact is, I am...sometimes.