Of four of the intersections I go thru (small street crossing a major road) the sensors do not work for my bike. I have tried multiple times aliging bike on cut-outs, tipping bike, etc.

There is no way possible I can run the red - three is never a break in the 55mph+ traffic during rush hour. The light is the only way to cross. Even if I could run the red I would not want to out of principle.

I always get off bike and press x-walk button, it works every time.

Al

Dozens of us have, many times. I wouldn't have posted if we hadn't gone thru those motions yet. Until something actually does get done (of course, no one will ever be told if it does), I indeed treat it as a non-working signal, i.e. a four-way stop.

I have trouble every day with an inductive sensor. There is a set of lights used to control the flow of traffic over a very narrow "hump backed" bridge over the canal close to where I work. In one direction, my bikes bike trip the sensor without difficulty. However when approaching from the other direction (as if I needed an incentive not to attend work :) )I always seem to get stopped. There is also a delay on the response on this sensor, almost as if it had been designed to irritate cyclists using clipless pedals... I am beginning to think that it will only change once I have stopped and put my foot down.

Cheers,

Ed

UPDATE:

Tried the uber-magnet at a light just now. Waited, waited, waited... nothing. Then a truck pulls up behind me. Near-instant yellow light for the street I was crossing.

ARGH. Time to call Reno somebody-er-other. Awe screw it. They can't run a city, let alone fix traffic lights.

I admire your restraint, but it's the city's job to make the lights work. I try to stay predictable, and a turning car wouldn't expect me to go from the lane to the signal to the lane again. Street Smarts, which has been published by, among others, by the Pennsylvania DOT, agrees:
http://www.bikexprt.com/streetsmarts/usa/chapter9a.htm
http://www.bikexprt.com/streetsmarts/usa/index.htm

As always, if you want legal advice, consult a local lawyer, but this makes common sense.

As I said, it is not restraint, but the fact that there is never a sufficient break in traffic (3-lanes each way) for me to cross. In fact my commute route is designed so I cross these streets where there is a light, there are places to cross without them and my first time commuting this route I waited nearly 10min for a break in traffic before I gave up and (gasp) rode the wrong way on the sidewalk to where there was a light that would let me cross. I have run these red lights during weekends when there is much less traffic.

When I leave the road to press the signal, there is sometimes a car or two coming, I let it go ahead and line up behind it. These are 90% of the time right turning cars. (it makes sense that in the morning folks are leaving neighborhood streets and turning L or R onto main streets, not crossing them into another neighborhood)

One light has a push button just for cyclists, but I can't reach it from the left turn lane I am in. I wonder if the city will fix those sensors if there is already a 'cyclists push button'

Al

No mentioned it here but on some lights, especially near fire houses, you can take advantage of the strobe lights on emergency vehicles. (Of course, this only works at nite.) In my car, if I'm far back enough, I flash the high beams a few times before entering the intersection. If it's strobe triggered, the light will change to green before you get there. If you have a strobing light on your bike, you may be able to achieve the same.

Then it could be you're talking with the wrong person(s). Try to work you way up the chain of command, and be prepared to quote the relevant state laws. If that fails, then try to engage local cycling advocates and the media. If a wheel squeaks load enough, it usually gets greased.

Or thrown in the trash.

When I said "we" in my previous posts, I was refering to the local cycling advocates. Thing is, we're up to our bottom-brackets in a slew of other issues as well. Many of these advocates sit on the commissions that are supposed to help deal with these issues. But besides the developers, the roadbuilders are kings of the economic jungle here, and they cater to the car-driving public. Ironically, your first statement may be true, but that's part of the problem; for things like this, even the city agencies themselves often don't know who "the right person(s)" is/are.

Roger that. We got lucky, and actually met the guy in charge of light maintenence. Now he rides a bike too.

I'm a pay-as-you-go kinda guy. If I have to run it (stop, look, go,) I will. I'm not squeamish.

But there's a grand-daddy slow light that stays red while a long line of commuters wait FOR NOBODY that changes almost immediately when I swing up the handicap ramp on the sidewalk and hit the walk button.

They love me. They do.