The relationship with some apps is in the bucket from the start.
For example, when the screen goes black for so long after you start it that only a restart makes the cell phone usable again.
But even if everything works - there is no joy about Frankfurt's green wave.
Either the software reports that no prognosis is possible, or you find out exactly what a view of the road and experience tell you: the next traffic light is green or red or will be soon.
Ralph Euler
Editor in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung, responsible for the Rhein-Main section of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sunday newspaper.
Follow I follow
Hanns Mattes
Editor in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.
Follow I follow
Rainer Schulz
Editor in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.
Follow I follow
Even the idea of waiting for the green phases by changing the speed is simply lost during rush hour.
Tempo 30 on the Mainkai at half past six in the evening?
No chance if everything is already in place.
And if you believe the app, then there would not even be half of the traffic lights that actually exist in the city anyway.
Everyday life on the Hanauer Landstraße teaches the user better.
In any case, drivers are better off paying attention to the traffic than to the signals from a smartphone - the next red wave will definitely come.
Too bad about all the money
Under the Christmas tree was a mobile phone holder for the bicycle handlebars.
The Green Wave app “trafficpilot”, which the city and federal government had to pay 256,000 euros for, is the right occasion to finally install the device.
When I tell my wife about the new app before leaving for the office, she says dryly that the city should finally build the crossing over Eschersheimer Landstraße at Sinaipark instead of spending the money on such a gimmick.
The crossing was announced for last year, but nothing has happened so far.
I still want to give the app a chance.
On the bike I ride the usual side streets first.
Then I turn into Raimundstrasse and roll towards a large intersection with a red traffic light, but the display stays black: "No forecast".
We continue to a red bicycle traffic light, again nothing.
The app finally starts on the Hansaallee.
I'm supposed to slow down to 13 kilometers an hour, says the voice over the loudspeaker.
So I roll towards the red traffic light at Alleenring at grandma's pace and still have to brake.
We continue down the Hansaallee in the direction of the city centre.
It works at the next traffic light, but I imagine a green wave differently.
Then, at almost 30, I rush down the mountain next to the university and am asked to slow down to eight kilometers an hour, although I see the green traffic light in front of me and also come across as relaxed.
Continue down the Reuterweg.
The app shows: I'm in the green zone.
So I keep up the pace – and look ahead just in time: Red!
I slam on the brakes and come to a stop when two cars turn off the side road into Reuterweg in front of me.
If I had followed the app's instructions, I would be in the hospital right now.
I make a detour past the main train station.
The app shows a traffic light on Ottostrasse that doesn't exist.
When I have to stop at the junction with Poststraße, the voice announcement tells me that the traffic light will turn green in three seconds.
That is practical.
South of the main train station I am again informed of two phantom traffic lights.
The connection breaks down in the harbor tunnel.
On the Mainzer Landstraße, the green wave phases shown on the display are so short that it is impossible for cyclists to adapt their speed to them.
On Kleyerstraße in Gallus, the app only works in one direction, in the other direction it says "No forecast".
My conclusion: My wife is right.
Too bad about all the money.
"Duration of the red phase not known"
I tested the app on the trip from Maintal to Frankfurt.
Maintal is outside the forecast area, but the app starts right at the city limits.
The voice prompt doesn't work.
Since I don't have a phone holder in the car, it's difficult to keep track of the icons.
I don't understand the usefulness of the app.
Only one blue arrow can be seen on the Hanauer Landstraße and the message "Duration of the red phase is not known".
If the traffic lights are connected, the duration of the red phase is displayed, but I can see the traffic lights live in front of me, which is why this is not exciting information.
So, I really don't understand what this is supposed to do.
Technically, the offer works flawlessly when driving from Heddernheim to Höchst.
Unfortunately, the app is not very helpful because the information is not available for every traffic light and also comes in very late, namely often only when the traffic light is in sight.
The color scheme of the display is memorable: if the road is red on the display - bad, because at this rate the traffic light will be red.
If the road turns green – all is well.
Unfortunately, it is mostly gray on the app, which means that no forecast is possible yet.
If it shows red, one or the other could be tempted to pull up to the next traffic light at a snail's pace or to accelerate so hard that the display turns green again.
Helpful: The seconds display, which starts running 30 seconds before a traffic light changes to green, and then the announcement "Green in three seconds".
You can step on the gas pedal and briefly present the rear lights to the Porsche driver in the next lane, who probably doesn't have the app yet, when starting.
At Republic Square, the app even shows that right-turn traffic gets green ten seconds earlier.
Side effect: you often look at your cell phone while driving and, hoping to be able to squirm a few seconds at the next traffic lights, you may be distracted.
Conclusion: A nice gimmick, but not very helpful because the information does not arrive in time.