^^^^^ Our major central MUP was acquired as an old rail line, and runs parallel to some tracks that are still in operation. The gates and signals are more reliable than in the past, but there's still the occasional false trip just like that ^^^^^ . Cars often have to turn around and cross at other blocks. Fortunately the sight lines are good, and on a bike, or as a pedestrian, you can VERY thoroughly assess the sitch and cross with great care.
I wonder if temperature is a factor, as those false trips seem to happen more often in winter.
Tundra_Man , those cards / readers work by proximity, not movement of the card. I had the habit of wanting to wave the card, increasingly furiously, when the gizme didn't read it. Evidenty a rather common reaction; they guy who manages our system saw me doing it one time, and suggested I just put the card close to it, and just hold it there for an extra second or two. Bink!
Edit - end of the week, and this has to win the award for the most UNeventful winter commute week ever. Totally routine all five days. Appropriate, I guess, on the heels of Ground Hog Day... The only "variable" was today. So far this week, on the ride home, aprx. 18:00 CT, on an otherwise pitch dark and deserted frozen Lake Monona, there's been ONE guy out there, about 100 feet out, with a forehead light and a fishing line, peering through the hole. Today was the only day he wasn't there :shrug: .