How long do you spend stopped at red lights?

option_click

I tracked my Weds commute using the Cyclemeter app on my iPhone, and it showed that on my combined journey to work and back, I was stopped at red lights for just over an hour!

Admittedly, my route does take me all the way through SE London to the City, but I was surprised.

So, who can beat this?
Please keep all RLJ comments to yourselves, thanks!

Kieran_Burns

0 hours

We ARE talking for the month aren't we?

il_principe

Varies hugely, can be as little as 3 can be as much as 15.

So this morning's Garmin says:


Moving Time: 00:19:04
Elapsed Time: 00:23:23
Avg Speed: 18.8 mph
Avg Moving Speed: 19.4 mph
Max Speed: 27.0 mph

Monday's says:

Moving Time: 00:22:43
Elapsed Time: 00:31:23
Avg Speed: 15.4 mph
Avg Moving Speed: 16.5 mph
Max Speed: 25.6 mph

EKE_38BPM

Option Click wrote:

I tracked my Weds commute using the Cyclemeter app on my iPhone, and it showed that on my combined journey to work and back, I was stopped at red lights for just over an hour!

Admittedly, my route does take me all the way through SE London to the City, but I was surprised.

So, who can beat this?
Please keep all RLJ comments to yourselves, thanks!

You were stationary at red lights for over an hour?!?
How long is your commute both in terms of time and distance.

gtvlusso

Ummmm - about 3 to 5 mins at the most.....not many lights on my bimble.

option_click

EKE_38BPM wrote:

You were stationary at red lights for over an hour?!?
How long is your commute both in terms of time and distance.

26 miles each way
Usually 1hr 30 actual riding time (plus traffic light stops)
Maybe I was particularly unlucky, but I hit *every* red light - sometimes only 100m or so apart through Brixton/Kennington/E&C

dhope

Not sure, I should be getting my 2nd bike kit for the Cateye any day so will time it.
An hour though seems far too long. I commute through SE London - only 6 miles but I can't see how you could manage 30mins of being stationary in a single commute.

hatbeard

mines anything from 3 to 10 minutes

jzed

Usually around 3-5 minutes a journey.

jonginge

Just looked at some of my garmin data: normally between 10 and 15 minutes for the 23mile round trip (Mortlake to City)

walkingbootweather

Out in the sticks we do this thing called anticipation. It's a bit complicated but involves slowing down as you approach lights likely to be on red when you get to them. If you do it right they change to green and you don't have to stop at all . Saves all that tricky track standing or messy unclipping business.

Pufftmw

hatbeard wrote:

mines anything from 3 to 10 minutes

Wowser, I reckon I would see 3-4 mins max & I come in a bit further than you but more or less a simillar location/route. Where do you end up? I nearly always get stopped at TBR & more times than not Tower Hill.

I think the junctions/route you take accounts for a lot of the delays as some lights (such as crossing TBR) give more time to the major route. I once "raced" a motorbike from Charlotte Street (W1) to Lever Street (EC1) in a car & I won by 5 minutes - reason was that I took a route with 18 sets less of traffic lights!

Re-route!

option_click

Probably due to a slow Friday afternoon, I did a rough streetmap-based count, and I have to go through more than 80 sets of traffic lights on my way to work - I guess it's not hard to rack up all that time

SmellTheGlove

I have six sets each way so the maximum could be about 20 minutes per day if I was really unlucky or did not flick the "anticipate" button. Soon adds up.

(I also have two temporary sets at the moment which could easily add about another 15m per day because of the way they're set up - however I have worked out the detours, no doubt just in time for them to disappear next week...)

hatbeard

Pufftmw wrote:

hatbeard wrote:

mines anything from 3 to 10 minutes

Wowser, I reckon I would see 3-4 mins max & I come in a bit further than you but more or less a simillar location/route. Where do you end up? I nearly always get stopped at TBR & more times than not Tower Hill.

I think the junctions/route you take accounts for a lot of the delays as some lights (such as crossing TBR) give more time to the major route. I once "raced" a motorbike from Charlotte Street (W1) to Lever Street (EC1) in a car & I won by 5 minutes - reason was that I took a route with 18 sets less of traffic lights!

Re-route!

I'm just never in that big a rush. I put the effort in when the roads open but I pootle through junctions. most of it is riding through the city (london bridge -> farringdon) have zero chance of not hitting a few lights along there.

Nik Cube

only one set of lights on my route and I can judge them pretty much to avoid waiting - road works however

CiB

Kieran_Burns wrote:

0 hours

We ARE talking for the month aren't we?

Course we are. It's been nuts lately out this way. Some weeks ago - might have been January - someone crossed the road at the crossing on the the roundabout near Tesco in Buckingham and held up me for a lifetime, nearly 20 seconds I bet. Then tonight - same crossing, opposite direction, it happened again. Nigh on half a minute of my life, just wasted with a light on red, no-one around except for a million drivers all urging me to jump the light so that thier ridiculous prejudices could be reinforced. I was George Formby, leaning on a lamp-post.

I'm reconsidering the commute if it happens again before June I tell ya.

EKE_38BPM

Option Click wrote:

EKE_38BPM wrote:

You were stationary at red lights for over an hour?!?
How long is your commute both in terms of time and distance.

26 miles each way
Usually 1hr 30 actual riding time (plus traffic light stops)
Maybe I was particularly unlucky, but I hit *every* red light - sometimes only 100m or so apart through Brixton/Kennington/E&C

So in a 150 minute commute you were stationary for 60 minutes of it?! 40%!

Option Click wrote:

Probably due to a slow Friday afternoon, I did a rough streetmap-based count, and I have to go through more than 80 sets of traffic lights on my way to work - I guess it's not hard to rack up all that time

That works out to hitting every red light and spending 45 seconds at each.

If your numbers are correct I would seriously consider a different route.

squired

Back when I worked in the square mile my commute of 13 miles (appx 100 sets of traffic lights) saw me stopped at reds for about 7-10 minutes. At the moment I can do my 8 mile commute without a single set of lights, even if I take a longer route home. The worst route takes in 5 sets of lights, so I barely ever have to stop.

In less than a month I start a new job in the square mile. It will be hard getting used to all the stopping again!

prj45

On my 30 miles across London and back about 15- 20 minutes (although that's all stops, including at normal junctions).

An hour? You sure you're not red green colour blind?

solsurf

only have 4 sets on my route to kendal, so not too bad probably 2 or 3 minutes max although if the level crossing goes down it can take another 8 min, why is that? its only a small train

jds_1981

I've looked at a couple of commutes and done it by percentage (easier to compare.)
Of course, the affect on journey time is worse as I presume that the time taken slowing to a stop won't be picked up - maybe I should try to brake hard at the last moment where I can

18.7%
19.7%
19.2%
18.0%

cyberknight

What are these mythical red lights?

Come to the country side where we still have Cow Cr*p on the roads, dodging pheasants and other wildlife !! :shock:

Only 2 mini roundabouts on my entire route ...

golfclub

Too long! I have this special talent of turning green lights to red just as I approach them no matter how I vary my route home. At the moment I am unable to reverse this trend.

iPete

what, you stop for red lights?
[/troll]

anwhere between 5-15 minutes at a guess. Don't have a fancy GPS on my ride but my HRM give you an idea of the stop/start/stop/start ride..

roger_merriman

I have a number of lights but all but one are ped crossings and quiet ones at that. so I only hit the crossroads and it doesn't take long for it to flick around again.

to be fair my route is intended that way I use back roads and parks for most part.

option_click

iPete wrote:

I guess the only advantage to all of this stop-starting is that I'm getting some great interval training when blasting away from the lights each time!

As for comments re:re-routing, I'm going to look into an alternative - the A23 isn't the most pleasant road to cycle along on the best of days!

asprilla

On my 34 mile round trip to London the difference between my total and moving times is about 5-10 minutes.

Clarion

No Garmin, but by taking the difference between my door to door and riding time, I can tell you that I am stopped for up to 10 mins of a 19km ride (normally 60mins or slightly less d-d)