Are matrix signs deliberately useless?

Are matrix signs deliberately useless?

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sim72

Original Poster:

4,945 posts

133 months

Sunday 30th August 2015
quotequote all
Drove from the North East to the Midlands today

"A1 delays at A197"
"A64 delays at A1237"
"A19 delays at A589"
"A46 delays at A6097"

Apart from the A64 one (which is York and is always busy) none of these messages are useful to be as I've no bloody idea where the other roads are.

More to the point, neither of the queues on the A1 (one quite bad) that we caught up in were mentioned on the matrices at all?

What is the f***ing point of them?

/rant

xxChrisxx

538 posts

120 months

Sunday 30th August 2015
quotequote all
sim72 said:
"A1 delays at A197"
"A64 delays at A1237"
"A19 delays at A589"
"A46 delays at A6097"

Apart from the A64 one (which is York and is always busy) none of these messages are useful to be as I've no bloody idea where the other roads are.

What is the f***ing point of them?

/rant
You are absolutely right. The matrix people should get your itinerary and only provide information to your specific journey.

thebraketester

14,192 posts

137 months

Sunday 30th August 2015
quotequote all
"M6 TOLL ROAD CLEAR"

We dont need to know if its clear because it always is, what it should state is the current situation on the M6 proper.

sim72

Original Poster:

4,945 posts

133 months

Sunday 30th August 2015
quotequote all
xxChrisxx said:
You are absolutely right. The matrix people should get your itinerary and only provide information to your specific journey.
You're missing the point. If I'm on the A1 and it says "delays at A197" I can't tell if it actually affects my journey unless I actually know where the A197 is. Why can't it say "A1 delays near Morpeth"? Why can't the A19 one say "A19 delays at Stockton"? Or the A64 one say "A64 delays York ring road"?

garycat

4,382 posts

209 months

Sunday 30th August 2015
quotequote all
thebraketester said:
"M6 TOLL ROAD CLEAR"

We dont need to know if its clear because it always is, what it should state is the current situation on the M6 proper.
If the M6 proper is congested, it will also say that, so if it is not mentioned you can assume it is clear.

xxChrisxx

538 posts

120 months

Sunday 30th August 2015
quotequote all
Matrix boards have limited space to display information. Displaying by intersecting road is a the best compromise between accuracy of info and use of space.

Dermot O'Logical

2,547 posts

128 months

Sunday 30th August 2015
quotequote all
sim72 said:
Drove from the North East to the Midlands today

"A1 delays at A197"
"A64 delays at A1237"
"A19 delays at A589"
"A46 delays at A6097"

Apart from the A64 one (which is York and is always busy) none of these messages are useful to be as I've no bloody idea where the other roads are.

More to the point, neither of the queues on the A1 (one quite bad) that we caught up in were mentioned on the matrices at all?

What is the f***ing point of them?

/rant
I'm with you all the way on this. Absolutely pointless. And usually out of date.

I'm also convinced that some of the matrix signs are on timers, and come on every day at the same time, just because. Examples include the signs at the lower end of the M3 on every weekday morning, which appear to simply exist in order to create delays by causing people to slow down.

thecremeegg

1,952 posts

202 months

Sunday 30th August 2015
quotequote all
Delays at jn5 or whatever would be better

thebraketester

14,192 posts

137 months

Sunday 30th August 2015
quotequote all
garycat said:
thebraketester said:
"M6 TOLL ROAD CLEAR"

We dont need to know if its clear because it always is, what it should state is the current situation on the M6 proper.
If the M6 proper is congested, it will also say that, so if it is not mentioned you can assume it is clear.
Ive never saw that ever.... in all the time i used to use the m6.... maybe they changed.

Jezzerh

816 posts

121 months

Sunday 30th August 2015
quotequote all
If they're not doing that they're displaying inane bks like 'THINK BIKE THINK BIKER', or 'SPRAY SLOW DOWN' when it stopped raining four hours ago. Total white elephant.

djdest

6,542 posts

177 months

Sunday 30th August 2015
quotequote all
I saw one the other day telling everyone there is a new payment method in operation at the Dartford crossing, which was about 100 miles away!

sim72

Original Poster:

4,945 posts

133 months

Sunday 30th August 2015
quotequote all
anonymous said:
[redacted]
One of those on the southbound A1 near Wetherby services today. About 200 miles away.

sim72

Original Poster:

4,945 posts

133 months

Sunday 30th August 2015
quotequote all
xxChrisxx said:
Matrix boards have limited space to display information. Displaying by intersecting road is a the best compromise between accuracy of info and use of space.
Agreed on the old style signs (which were 2 lines of 12 characters, though you could still fit in "A1 delays at Morpeth" for example), but the new ones are 3 lines of 16 characters. One today had something like "Leeds Festival 28-31 August delays possible", and another one the Dartford Crossing message mentioned above.

Isimmo

1,227 posts

170 months

Sunday 30th August 2015
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The biggest distraction which would be absolutely 'verboten' in any other form of transport is when they flicker through a self test cycle... With concentration levels maxed out with variable speeds, unnecessary signage and poor roadcraft, the last thing the average motorist needs is a random flickering sign causing cognitive overload...

k-ink

9,070 posts

178 months

Sunday 30th August 2015
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The M25 signs are classic. I've never witnessed a good reason for a single reduced speed limit yet. I am sure there is a monkey in a cage somewhere randomly pressing buttons. Modern Toss.

babo456

76 posts

117 months

Sunday 30th August 2015
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Local council spent 500k up here a few years ago for some, 99% they say PAY ATTENTION TO THE ROAD (Really?!) and FASTEN YOUR SEAT BELT. They are pointless as if there is a crash in my city your buggard anyway as there are no alternate routes, so the likely hood is I'll be stuck in what ever jam the signs on about anyway.....

RizzoTheRat

25,085 posts

191 months

Sunday 30th August 2015
quotequote all
M25 around Heathrow a while back, "A303 closed at A338"...50 odd miles away.

Got to the M3 junction to find it was shut.

WTF couldn't the tts have told me that instead of the A303 sign so I could have taken the frigging A30 instead. Got to the A3 junction and they were in the process of closing that, with no signs earlier on either!

The Mrs complained to the Highways Agency and apparently it's nothing to do with them.


Edited by RizzoTheRat on Sunday 30th August 23:01

Slow

6,973 posts

136 months

Sunday 30th August 2015
quotequote all
One near me displaying something to do with "Rockness"

Its not on this year and there was a different festival called "groove", it was one of those trailer matrix signs so obviously they could of changed the name.

Mr Tidy

22,065 posts

126 months

Sunday 30th August 2015
quotequote all
RizzoTheRat said:
M25 around Heathrow a while back, "A303 closed at A338"...50 odd miles away.

Got the M3 junction to find it was shut.

WTF couldn't the tts have told me that instead of the A303 sign so I could have taken the frigging A30 instead. Got the A3 junciton and they were in the process of closing that, with no signs earlier on either!

The Mrs complained to the Highways Agency and apparently it's nothing to do with them.
I share your frustration - totally pointless!

Regularly use the M25 from M3 to A3 and all I get is signs about Operation 50 miles away, rather than any clue that an A3 junction is closed because of some sort of bike ride!!

Total f******s!furious

Nardies

1,165 posts

218 months

Sunday 30th August 2015
quotequote all
  • Fog* is a particularly useless message, either when it's so foggy you can barely see it, or there is no fog!