So quick question about a traffic light which I've noticed here and is not in my home country.
If you google map and street view : 333 Hohlstrasse (Zurich) you will notice a two lights traffic light, with a red X on it. Under the lights there is a "bus spur" sign, googling this I got something from Germany :
The fines for prohibited use of the bus lane range from 15 euros for driving in the special lane to 170 euros plus one point in Flensburg and a month's driving ban if an accident occurs when turning over a bus lane
My question is , do I need to care about this street light, do I need to do anything special when I see this sign ?
You do not have to do anything special. Unless you drive a VBZ bus.
The traffic light is for the single bus lane in the middle. Albeit it is a single lane, it is used in both directions and thus this special traffic light which tells the busdriver when they can safely use the lane.
I'm curious how this really works, as that sign is roughly in the middle of the spur.
There's the same signal on the other side a little further down, but if you check the streetview at 351 and 271 Hohlstrasse you can see the same signal on at each end which is what you'd expect.
I guess they have bus sensors (same as the normal traffic lights), plus probably a timer in case a sensor misses the bus leaving the zone, and the middle ones are a reminder or in case the bus is really slow?
This is the signal for the bus lane (the white plate reads “bus lane”), for a bit further on when the yellow line becomes dashed and the lane accessible with it. There’s another signal (where the truck blocks the bus lane) further on. I would expect that this signal can be changed (to reserve the lane) by remote control like the standard ones.
For completeness sake, the single traffic light on the left is a standard bus and tram light. The bus drivers can interrupt the cycle directing the normal traffic lights by remote control, upon which these white ones change to their version of green for the bus/tram.