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Satisfy My Curiosity

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by Lieslntx, Apr 23, 2009.

  1. Lieslntx

    Lieslntx Active Member

    Pardon the long start to this thread. I am not known for being short and to the point.

    During the course of me just living my life and doing my thing, I tend to run into things that I want to know the answer to. Random things. Not unanswerable, rhetorical questions, but legitimate questions that have real answers and I want to know the answer to them. So, I figure maybe we could have a place here at SJ to have these curiosity questions answered. I figure with all the general knowledge out there, someone will know. And if others have questions, post away. If not, don't worry, I have at least one question a week I could post on my own. We could call it the "Damn, Lieslntx is having one of those moments" thread.

    On to the question that is bugging me at the moment.

    We have those signs in Houston (and I know they are in other big cities) that say "Travel time to (pick an exit down the road) is 8 minutes at 8:26 a.m."

    First of all, the times are almost always spot on. Now, I do factor in that I tend to drive faster than the average person, and I tend to arrive at said exit one to two minutes before the posted travel time.

    Second, I want to know how in the hell they know that!!?? Is there some person whose job it is to drive to said exit at the posted speed limit, report back with the travel time, flip a bitch, travel the opposite direction, report back, etc. for their eight hour shift? Because if there is such a job, I want to apply.

    My educated guess is that they use the TransStar cameras, count the cars, use the average speed, plug this information into some formula that some person developed at a cost of several million dollars and that's how they come up with the travel time.

    However, I would really like to know the REAL way that they come up with such accurate travel times. Surely someone here knows how. And don't tell me to Google. Google and I don't get along real well. Besides, the Google answers are not nearly as fun as the stuff I get from SJ.

    The curiosity is killing me. And if you don't have an answer for me to this particular question, stick around. I will have something else random next week that is bugging me. Don't despair.
     
  2. buckweaver

    buckweaver Active Member

    Here's the technical answer (click on Section 5.1):
    http://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/TravelInfo/resources/cms_rept/cmspractices.htm#_Toc73422547

     
  3. LWillhite

    LWillhite Member

    For those of us who don't speak Texan (other than GWB's "Heh"), what does "flip a bitch" mean?

    If possible, I'd love to incorporate that into my everyday vocabulary.
     
  4. Lieslntx

    Lieslntx Active Member

    Oh, sorry. That's what we call making a U-turn.

    Edit: to clarify that it is most often used when referring to an illegal U-turn.

    And thank you BW for the technical answer. I'm not kidding much when I say I sleep better knowing these things.
     
  5. dargan

    dargan Active Member

    Maybe not for this specific case, but I know exactly what you mean.
     
  6. KYSportsWriter

    KYSportsWriter Well-Known Member

    what is the meaning of life?
     
  7. ArnoldBabar

    ArnoldBabar Active Member

    42
     
  8. deskslave

    deskslave Active Member

    42. Come on, ask something difficult.

    EDIT: Damn you, you elephant bastard.
     
  9. sportschick

    sportschick Active Member

    Why does Stan snore?
     
  10. spnited

    spnited Active Member

    How many guys do you know who don't snore?
     
  11. sportschick

    sportschick Active Member

    Stan snores when he's awake. He's way beyond most of you boys!
     
  12. ArnoldBabar

    ArnoldBabar Active Member

    Gotta be quick on the trigger around here.

    Because you think it's really, really cute. Don't even pretend you don't.
     
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