I, like many others, have long observed that the best thing you can do for traffic flows is to turn off the bloody traffic lights - and I don't even own a car - it makes it no more difficult to cross a road and speeds thing up when I take the 'bus.
Fellow libertarian Gregg Beaman has written a fine article that sums all this up.
Put On Your Big Boy Pants, Maybe?
1 hour ago
3 comments:
I've met Ben Hamilton-Baillee who is the chap behind Kensington High St.
I use KHS, and it is infinitely better now. Ben is a thoroughly decent chap, sharp as a tack and very sensible. I like his ideas.
I have been to Vietnam a few times. The streets there are basically a shared space between innumerable bikes, a multitude of very detuned 90cc Honda mopeds (you know, the old primary coloured types with white leg guards) that are near silent in operation and run so smoothly they give the impression that they will run for 20+ years (I think that is the very plan!) and a few cars driven mostly by self-important twats (lets be frank about that one).
To cross the road you just...cross. The bikes, cyclos, mopeds and even cars flow around you like a school of fish. As more cars appear I think this will change for the worse, for cars tend to make drivers think they have more right of way. As long as the speeds are down to 15mph or so, this should not be a problem. London average speeds are 8mph AT BEST. If we tootled around at 15mph we would likely have to stop less, not need traffic lights and get to our destination faster with far less risk and pollution (if we used series hybrids, mind). I blame manual gearboxes, to be honest...tootling about with an auto is no sweat.
A notoriously slow junction, the Perivale A40 intersection has had a lights failure and it runs faster when it does. People eyeball each other and take turns. Gits who push through are tooted and scowled at far more than normal and almost as much as they deserve. It works, AFAICT.
Love the 'school of fish' metaphor. I too know/admire Ben Hamilton-Baillie, but Ken High St would be infinitely better without traffic lights, and with a level surface (with 30-degree rubberised kerbs to aid orientation for blind people). In its current compromised state it is a no-no for cyclists. Roger Thornhill, eh? Maybe I'm George Caplan.
Roger I don't agree about the cars: you are not supposed to get in front of them, that's for sure. There isn't enough room for them to move round you. As there are so few, you time your crossing to pass behind the car.
Also, there seem to be far fewer pedestrians in the streets, cf with London, at least at the time of day that I was wandering around.
Post a Comment