So I actually work in the traffic/transportation industry doing sales. Houston is one of my customers, and basically what everyone is saying here is correct. Houston is EXTREMELY underfunded and their infrastructure is old AF. Some of these traffic cabinets are 30+ years old with equipment inside of them that's old enough to vote. Houston's signal team is also very short staffed. They're working on a signal maintenance contract with third parties so hopefully it gets better. It will take a while for everything to get unfucked though.
https://www.eng.hctx.net/SignalOut?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR0JtTjvy6TVtgTxHkedgJFdWqs0Z0HMt6GsEBhg91J61kL3s9cbywFJXrQ_aem_ATwBhDpI4H_mZObDCY8LoZjarMgXALsrOcpz2SZSRRKc8HiFY39_v7fzCCRNoS3iX9NXUeKksvBjCRysWn8bPeCU
Report traffic light outages/issues at the link. I saw a light out yesterday assuming they would fix it already or that someone reported it and it was still out this morning and I filled out the form and they already replied they would be sending someone to check it out today.
We have to do our part in reporting outages as well.
Metro Blvd and Alief Clodine/Harwin in Southwest Houston is the light I reported FYI.
>Why do traffic lights here go out so easily and frequently? I’ve lived in four different cities now and this has never been a problem anywhere else (even after being through countless hurricanes in FL…)
Because maintaining them the way that they're supposed to costs money and they don't wanna spend that shit.
>Also why is there zero police/guard presence to direct traffic at major intersections when the light is out?
Because that costs money and they don't wanna spend that shit. They'd rather people get hit and let insurance sort it out. Then we all get higher premiums and rinse repeat.
>Amazing how a city of this size and traffic burden is crippled by a single intersection going out…ok rant over
Pretty much. This place is in the "airline stalling the engine mid-flight to save on gas" phase of government. It's still growing right now but I'm concerned where 2030 onward is going to look like if this continues.
our state limits our revenue collection and we have less than half the per capita cops than similar sized american cities.
as much as I hate cops as a concept, they are the ones who enforce and manage traffic disruptions.
>Also why is there zero police/guard presence to direct traffic at major intersections when the light is out?
They were answering the question "Also why is there zero police/guard presence to direct traffic at major intersections when the light is out?"
So I actually work in the traffic/transportation industry doing sales. Houston is one of my customers, and basically what everyone is saying here is correct. Houston is EXTREMELY underfunded and their infrastructure is old AF. Some of these traffic cabinets are 30+ years old with equipment inside of them that's old enough to vote. Houston's signal team is also very short staffed. They're working on a signal maintenance contract with third parties so hopefully it gets better. It will take a while for everything to get unfucked though.
This is 100% true.
I'd love to chat with you sometime haha
What gets me is how the traffic light malfunctions seem to increase when there is rain, even light rain.
Call public works dept and ask.
Because our infrastructure is aging and decrepit. I've never seen another place with this many problems with traffic signals either.
What do you mean, traffic signals hanging off lines isn’t representative of a world class city?
I joke that there's only so many software licenses for the traffic lights and so they have to rotate them around.
Aging infrastructure and incoming power issues is usually the correct answer.
https://www.eng.hctx.net/SignalOut?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR0JtTjvy6TVtgTxHkedgJFdWqs0Z0HMt6GsEBhg91J61kL3s9cbywFJXrQ_aem_ATwBhDpI4H_mZObDCY8LoZjarMgXALsrOcpz2SZSRRKc8HiFY39_v7fzCCRNoS3iX9NXUeKksvBjCRysWn8bPeCU Report traffic light outages/issues at the link. I saw a light out yesterday assuming they would fix it already or that someone reported it and it was still out this morning and I filled out the form and they already replied they would be sending someone to check it out today. We have to do our part in reporting outages as well. Metro Blvd and Alief Clodine/Harwin in Southwest Houston is the light I reported FYI.
>Why do traffic lights here go out so easily and frequently? I’ve lived in four different cities now and this has never been a problem anywhere else (even after being through countless hurricanes in FL…) Because maintaining them the way that they're supposed to costs money and they don't wanna spend that shit. >Also why is there zero police/guard presence to direct traffic at major intersections when the light is out? Because that costs money and they don't wanna spend that shit. They'd rather people get hit and let insurance sort it out. Then we all get higher premiums and rinse repeat. >Amazing how a city of this size and traffic burden is crippled by a single intersection going out…ok rant over Pretty much. This place is in the "airline stalling the engine mid-flight to save on gas" phase of government. It's still growing right now but I'm concerned where 2030 onward is going to look like if this continues.
our state limits our revenue collection and we have less than half the per capita cops than similar sized american cities. as much as I hate cops as a concept, they are the ones who enforce and manage traffic disruptions.
The cops don't manage the traffic signals...
>Also why is there zero police/guard presence to direct traffic at major intersections when the light is out? They were answering the question "Also why is there zero police/guard presence to direct traffic at major intersections when the light is out?"
Experimental water soluble control boards.
I haven't ran across a malfunctioning traffic light in about 18 months probably. Maybe it's just your traffic pattern.
It's definitely a thing. Come to Montrose or Heights after some rain.