At this point I don't know if full signal pre-emption is necessary or not, but it might be worthwhile to actually get the signal prioritization working correctly before we determine it to be a failure..
I completely agree that we can't evaluate the signal situation as planned until they get it working, but it's not to early to recognize a trade-off was made to make the train wait at at least some red lights. I DO NOT think the Green Line is a failure whatsoever.
It's like saying that universal healthcare is a bad idea because the MNsure website didn't work correctly. Or something.
It's interesting you brought up health reform because that's the analogy I was thinking about while typing my earlier post. As a supporter of universal health care (jaded as I was about the process and final law), I absolutely did not think that the website troubles made health reform a failure. So, I continued to argue in favor health reform, even while accepting criticism of the maddening enrollment process as completely valid. The botched health care rollout gave ammunition to critics, heartburn to supporters, and unnecessarily frustrated customers. The same will be true of the Green Line if they are unable to resolve these issues soon.
To stretch the analogy further, both rollouts proved just how utterly complicated these endeavors are, and despite a fortune in government expenditure and extensive testing, the kinks need to be worked out through real-world trial and error.
You're right that somebody should hear about this every day until it's fixed, but I think it would be more effective if everyone contacted the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul and Hennepin and Ramsey counties - particularly St. Paul and Ramsey County. These are the agencies that own the signals along University avenue and have the final say with respect to signal timing and priority/preemption.
I doubt we need to convince anyone at Metro Transit that this is a problem that needs fixing, I don't think we can say the same for the various public works / traffic departments at St. Paul and Ramsey County.
While I think MT does need to hear about it regularly, I totally agree we should also direct our complaints as you advise.
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Really, I was responding that detailing Green Line experiences is a good use of this thread, even if it mostly comes across as negative. I do think it's too early to make judgments about the reliability and travel time issues. But for some riders, one bad experience could keep them off the train for a long time, so I hope they get it worked out soon.