Quote:
Originally Posted by Hot_Pepper
Does anybody know who will have the right of way with these new trolly's? I have never had to drive around a city where they exist before, and I am curious how this will work. I am also scared that trolly's will come out of nowhere and hit me, or not stop at a light or stop sign. Any ideas?
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First of all they are streetcars....not trolley's. They follow the same rules as cars- abiding stop signs, within the speed limits, etc.
As far as pedestrians in crosswalks- the streetcar has the right of way for obvious reasons - it cannot simply stop like a car when a pedestrian jumps out into a crosswalk. (They have painted crosswalks that cross the tracks to alert pedestrians of this).
The lights are synchronized with the streetcar and one would hope further synchronization/tweaking will be necessary to adjust to the various traffic patterns downtown. One example where the streetcar has to cross all traffic is at Peachtree/Ellis. To make a left turn all lanes in all directions are given a red while the streetcar is prompted with a specialized light to signal to the driver that the left-hand turn is safe.