Waiting in traffic lines.

On 16 Apr, 18:09, Marz wrote:
When driving to work the other day (sorry, yes driving, cycling is not
really an option right now) I noticed the one cycling commuter ( a
very rare sight in Houston) and was surprised to see him wait in line
with traffic at the lights. For me, one of the reasons I did ride to
work is to avoid getting stuck in traffic lines and my question is, do
other folks wait in line or do you ride through stationary traffic?

[I'm new on urc... hello]

Almost all roads in central Edinburgh have advance stoplines, so if I
come to a queue of traffic at one of those junctions I'll filter,
usually on the left, if there is space to do so. If there turns out to
be a white van in the ASL I'll jolly well pull up right in front of
it, which I think is safer than hanging around somewhere to the left
where the driver isn't looking.

If, while filtering, I come to a car that's so far to the left there
isn't enough space to get past, I stop somewhere behind it, ready to
take a place in the lane when the cars start moving (looking backwards
and making eye contact with the driver behind me helps here, I think.)
Chelsea tractors and vans get a much more careful value of "enough
space" here; I never pass lorries unless I'm certain the lights aren't
changing any time soon.

Generally I only filter if I don't expect the cars to start moving
before I get to the front - if they do, I find it always starts slowly
enough for me to get back into the lane.

If I decide not to filter at all I wait in the centre of the lane
behind the last car, and reconsider filtering if I'm not past the
junction in one light cycle.

On most roads I'm uneasy about the idea of passing stopped cars on the
right, unless I'm going to be turning right myself, as I don't fancy
trying to get back in to moving traffic from that side.

Robin Johnson