Comments on: Decongestion

By: CanadianPacific

CanadianPacific — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

This is a finely crafted round-up of some good ideas from roads all over the place.

I especially enjoyed the piece entitled "Naked Streets". In my city, Vancouver, Canada, we have nasty, snarling, congested traffic all over, every day, just like lots of places.

But for over 25 years, we have also had in our midst an island of calm called Granville Island where cars and walkers and cyclists and skateboarders all share the same surface. It's not perfect, not everybody gets it, but it seems to work for almost everyone almost all the time.

Strangely, this bold experiment has never been extended to anywhere else in our increasingly congested town. Maybe now that the Dutch have taken their plunge, we can have more confidence in ourselves.

By: asecondmikki

asecondmikki — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I was just pondering traffic problems here in western NC and wondering how things were done elsewhere in the world – and lo and behold – here is an answer to my questions. Thanks for such a diverse, inspiring magazine!

By: jennykb10

jennykb10 — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

These cities provide great examples for us as we continue to push for change and as congestion demands change from city governments. The Denmark example, in particular, was most interesting to me, but what happens at intersections? If there are traffic lights, do these lanes have their own signals? It seems cyclists would be even more hidden to motorists.

I would certainly prefers these to riding next to traffic, but I’d hope all my trips were straight shots!

By: JustSaying

JustSaying — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Denver’s light rail system was just recently expanded down the Southeast stretch of I-25 and the Union Station project will do more than reach the airport — it’s also planned to go the opposite direction to the Northeast (the only part of town where it’s still hard to get downtown from) and include long-distance commuter rail lines from neighboring towns.

And Denver also has one of the country’s best networks of bike trails. And RTD (Denver’s bus and light rail operator) allows riders to take their bikes on light rail trains (you have to get on at the back of the rail car and stand), even at rush hour.

By: bikingsasquatch

bikingsasquatch — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

How do I get New Jersey to start something good? Our laws say all new road construction must include all users, including bicylists but every new road project around me is more deadly for us cyclist commuters. I’ve emailed and gotten no responses
Public pressure is prob the only thing that would ever work, maybe news channels should have a “shame on you” for environmentalism!

-Sasquatch

By: cow_invasions

cow_invasions — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Well, here where I live in America, many pedestrians seem to think that they must own the street. They pay absolutely no attention to cars, walking the street oblivious to the fact that cars are zipping past them, and sadly, a lot of small children seem to be picking up on the same habits.
Pedestrianans will sometimes literally all walk in the street (leaving sidewalks so lonely and bare), blocking cars from getting through. When a car does try to get through, the pedestrians will only gather around the car and harass the people inside.

I'm sorry for such a long comment. I'm just saying, something in which people have to share the street with cars would be disastrous in some areas of America. Many Americans lack patience and a lot of common sense.

By: somnambulant

somnambulant — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

There are seperate lights for bikes.. at least on at most intersections, I can't really remember for sure.

Here's a great video the city released:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5092322980326147472

-Wes

By: AndreasNYC

AndreasNYC — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Many have difficulty seeing the solutions for the old problems. Here in NYC, much of the government is still stuck in the auto-centric thinking as illustrated by the previous poster. The shared street model or "Naked Streets" are gaining supporters and showing results. In NYC, we've basically been working with "Half-Naked Streets" for some time as any driver will tell you. Cars do slow down (most of the time) when approaching an intersection with people partially in the cross-walk. Perhaps formaizing it gives it more power and safety.

NYC's Transportation Alternatives non-profit advocacy group does much research and gets results. Their publication Streets for People: A Primer for People Who Want Quieter, Safer, Friendlier Neighborhood Streets (2004) is a good guide and they have updated information elsewhere on their site.

By: mialoree

mialoree — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Where exactly do you live? In my experience in the Midwest, it is the cars that drive recklessly and impatiently. Pedestrians do and should have the right of way because, let’s face it, in a person-car accident, the car and people inside are not in danger. I agree that no one should be harassed because of their preferred method of transportation, but I’ve never seen such a anti-car sentiment.

I’d love to know where people own the streets over cars… and then I’d move there.