Archive for October 2011
Cars
October 28, 2011 | 
Author Hello Pals!
I am sure that everyone has a craze in car driving, likewise, in United States you can find many car crazy people. Driving is the most popular means of transportation compared to others because it is not really considered as an option when it comes to going outing to some new places which were spread out in long distances and for this, car is the most logical choice. Most cities in the United States do not have a great deal in the way of public transportation, but with the exception of larger places like New York, Chicago, Boston, and San Francisco, most cities and towns are designed with cars rather than pedestrians in mind. At the same time, it is impossible to get around in without a car, and people rarely walk any beyond than from their doors to their cars and back again.
Generally speaking, American cities are found to be flat and square, with San Franciso being a notable exception. The city planners took the basic grid designed that was used when laying out the majority cities and just laid it on the areas many steep hills rather than building around them. Though, it is pretty hard to get lost in an American town because of this grid, streets and avenues cross each other and form blocks. This is the basic unit into which cities are broken down, and people use blocks when giving directions or talking about a particular place.
Posted in Transportation | 
Tags: car driving, city planners, public transportation, rarely walk, transportation | 
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Traffic Signals
Hello Pals!
The United States also has some traffic signals like other countries. Generally on smaller streets, most intersections have a big, red, octagonal stop sign. So that, drivers must come to a complete stop position and make sure that there is no oncoming traffic before going on. Another frequently used traffic signal is the yield signal, which is a white triangle with a red border and a word yield on it. Mainly this sign appears on slopes leading onto highways or major streets. So on these places drivers should slow down or stop the vehicle, and left traffic on the busier street go through. Traffic circles or rotaries are not quite often used in the United States; instead there are 4 way intersections where 2 streets meet together where the car arriving at the intersection goes first and after that the next car to its right.
There are also occasional 3 way intersections roads and these are marked by red stop signs with 4-way or 3-way beneath them. Here you can see many traffic lights display an arrow signals, so that it will be helpful for the drivers to move in a right path. In some sates, some drivers can make a right turn on a red light, provided there is no traffic coming toward them in the first lane. A white arrow sign with a black border will show you which direction you can go. Streets that are having no ways or not through streets are called dead-end streets and these are marked by yellow signs at their entrances.
On the Road
Hello Pals!
In many large and medium-sized cities, the grid system has been broken down by the arrival of freeways and interstate highways. Actually, freeways are high-speed roads that cross entire cities and in major cities, you can find these enormously with up to eight lanes and more than that especially where most of these roads meet together. Although traffic can be terrible on freeways, particularly during rush hour, these ways are generally fast and efficient ways of getting throughout the city, as there is no stopping on them and the traffic flow in and out of them are found to be more or less smooth. While driving through this root, you need to pay for it sometimes and you can even take ticket from a tollbooth.
Actually, the interstate highway systems are found to be a network of highways, which are paid by the federal government that connect the whole of the country. The other name for this large highways are said to be expressway, thruway, and turnpike. The thruway got its name from the fact that they do not have to pay to use it. Freeways are sometimes part of an interstate highway. You can identify these by the name plate of the vehicles. For example, interstates have the initial “I” followed by a number indicating the route like “I-90”, whereas state routes are roads within a particular state, which is mentioned by SR in front of the number.
Posted in Road traffic signals | Tags: expressway, highways, interstate highways, medium-sized cities, traffic flow | No Comments »
Place to Stop
Hello Pals!
To be fact, only by driving and roaming around in a vehicle, you can find the exact size of the country in which you are living and this is applicable for United States too. When you are on the road, it is common to drive for 100 miles without seeing other vehicles how long they are going. Since there are many towns that are located below or more than 100 miles, by traveling through car, you can reach these places very easily and can watch the beauty of the place. There are also some rest places, which are marked by blue signs, where you can take rest for every 15 miles. Here they provide a place to stop for a rest, toilets, vending machines, and some places you can find picnic tables, which will be quite easy for you to have your food and take rest in it.
Another option is the truck stop method. Actually, it is a dinner or restaurant, which caters mainly for drivers who drive for large trucks called tractor-trailer rigs or semis and sometimes for public too or else, it is quite easy to pull off into a small town for gas and refreshments. Generally, the blue signs on the road undoubtedly indicate what kinds of facilities are available in an upcoming town. So that, it will be easy for the drivers to know about that place in advance and easy for decision making.
Posted in Road traffic signals | Tags: driving, refreshments, tractor-trailer, vending machines, watch the beauty | No Comments »