Originally Posted by
SClaraPokeman
Could it be weight that detectors sense? Once, I turned left onto El Monte by triggering the light from Foothill Expressway and a (much thinner) rider marveled to my chagrin that he couldn't do "that" (like I had really "achieved" something).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Induction_loop
The relatively crude nature of the loop's structure means that only metal masses above a certain size are capable of triggering the relay. This is good in that the loop does not thus produce very many "false positive" triggers (say, for example, by a pedestrian crossing the loop with a pocket full of loose metal change) but it sometimes also means that bicycles, scooters, and motorcycles stopped at such intersections may never be detected by them (and therefore risk being ignored by the switch/signal). Most loops can be manually adjusted to consistently detect the presence of scooters and motorcycles at the least.
I know some roads have bike lanes between the straight through lane and the right turn lane, and within those, there is either a loop, or the camera focused on the bike lane is set to detect bikes. Most of the roads I ride on that have signals, usually also have enough traffic that I can wait for a car to trigger the signal. Other times, I'll just go to the crosswalk and hit the ped button.
I would like to know how the OP plans on helping detector loops detect CF bikes.
Last edited by cthenn; 01-28-14 at 09:51 AM.