Home Sources How Do I? Site Map What's New Help Search Terms: ramp meter*, Commuters favor a few ramp meters on freeways; Most drivers say theywould... FOCUS™ Edit Search Document 1 of 1. Copyright 2000 Star Tribune Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)December 3, 2000, Sunday, Metro EditionSECTION: NEWS; Minnesota Poll; Pg. 1ALENGTH: 2505 wordsHEADLINE: Commuters favor a few ramp meters on freeways;Most drivers say they would prefer some meters turned on and less of a wait between green lights.BYLINE: Laurie Blake; Staff WriterBODY:Now that the Twin Cities-area ramp meter experiment is nearly finished, seven out of 10 freeway drivers say themeters' use should be resumed only with modifications, according to a new Star Tribune Minnesota Poll. Only 9 percent are ready to turn all 430 ramp meters back on and return to the aggressive freeway meteringused before the test began Oct. 16. Having experienced several weeks of meter-free commuting, two-thirds of the metro area's licensed drivers havefound trip times the same or shorter with the meters off. Twenty percent of commuters would like the meters off permanently. But a strong majority, 70 percent, favorsreturning to the use of meters, but using them differently _ turning on only some of them or making drivers waitless between green lights. The meter test, mandated by the Legislature, involves the shutdown of all meters to test their effectiveness.Minnesota Department of Transportation officials will announce Monday when the test will end and how thedepartment will proceed afterward. Results of the experiment are due to legislators Feb. 1. On Friday, some said that metering will be a big topic inthe 2001 session and that it's clear that drivers want changes. "I wouldn't like to see things go back to the way they were," said commuter Virginia McGaffey, 53, ofBloomington, who drives many different freeways to get to her jobs as an office temp. "If they are going to turn some of the ramp lights on _ do it prudently," she said. Truck driver Mark Wayne, 39, of Inver Grove Heights, who considers the metering system overkill, would liketraffic engineers to monitor the traffic scene and use the meters sparingly. "They need to learn to use theirjudgment. They need to think," he said. Transportation Commissioner Elwyn Tinklenberg said in an interview Friday that the Minnesota Poll results wereconsistent with the focus groups and surveys that the department has conducted.Tinklenberg said public reaction will be strongly considered in what to do next, raising expectations that he willannounce changes to the metering system. There are complex technical and engineering aspects of metering to be considered, he said, "but I think one ofthe things that needs to be brought more into the balance is the public reaction and public support for the system." The benefits of metering must be weighed against a public sense of frustration with the system, he said. "Thereis a threshold beyond which they just don't want to experience any more constraints or delays." Though the department resisted the ramp-meter experiment, Tinklenberg said he thought it had been a goodeffort that may have built credibility with the public, which may now see that the department is listening andbalancing the engineering issues with the public's desires. Far fewer commuters avoided the freeways while the meters were turned off than before the test, the pollshows, a finding that will draw attention to measurements of traffic capacity yet to come from the department'sresearch. The department has maintained that freeways carry more cars with the meters on. The Minnesota Poll was taken by telephone among 757 adults who live in the seven-county metro area betweenSept. 29 and Oct. 15, and again among 583 of the same people between Nov. 12 and Nov. 27. The second round ofinterviews occurred after several weeks of meter-free driving. All of those interviewed are licensed drivers, and 58percent of those surveyed take the freeways during rush hours five days a week. Sixty-two percent of thosesurveyed said they typically get on a freeway at a metered ramp..Trip times In asking drivers to compare driving conditions before and after the meters were turned off, the poll found thattrips for the majority of people were the same or shorter without meters. About a quarter of drivers reported faster trips in the morning and afternoon. The average amount of timesaved was about eight minutes. Slightly more than two in five of those polled said they found their trips the same with and without meters. The afternoon rush hour was more trying. Twenty-nine percent of motorists reported that their evening trips grewduring the test, compared with 21 percent who said their morning drives became longer. Esther Hagen, 28, of Golden Valley, found that her trip time doubled on the way home from her job as a dietarymanager at a Bloomington senior care center. It took her half an hour with meters and a full hour without them.She'd like some meters turned back on, but she'd like them operated at a faster rate. Winnie Olsen, 54, of Chaska, also found the evening trip the hard part of the test. She commutes 80 miles a dayround-trip for her job in downtown St. Paul as a referral coordinator for orthopedic surgeons. "When I'm leaving town at night, I wish the meter was there because it's too much congestion. They don't wantto let you merge in," Olsen said. "But at the other end in the morning, I save 10 minutes" without meters. Olsen said she favors turning some meters back on "just in certain spots in the city. I don't think they need tobe turned back on everywhere.".Winners, losers The poll showed that turning the meters off most greatly benefitted Hennepin County residents in the morning.Of those reporting shorter trips during the morning commute, 31 percent live in Hennepin County, 25 percent inRamsey County and 23 percent in all other counties of the metropolitan area. By comparison, the losers in the morning were those coming from outside Hennepin and Ramsey counties. Ofthe motorists reporting longer trips in the morning, 17 percent live in Hennepin County, 18 percent in RamseyCounty and 26 percent in all other counties. There were no clear winners or losers in the afternoon rush hour..Congestion Drivers' perceptions of congestion, safety and highway courtesy all changed during the meter experiment. Before meters were turned off, 92
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