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While we're on the subjects of bikes, what can be done about the flagrant running of red lights/stop signs by bicycles? I try to be nice to bikes as much as possible, but it seems like every 2nd bicyclist completely ignores red lights when they think there are no cars coming. I've seen quite a few bikes almost get hit by cars, and every time it was because the bike ran the light. More enforcement? Licensing bikes? If we want more bikes on the streets, then we need to make sure they follow the same rules.
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May 8, 2012 06:59
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Is there a difference between American and European cyclists? I keep hearing how American cyclists are quite aggressive and I'm starting to think it's not a grandma on a citybike that they're talking about. EDIT: I remember this perspective on Amsterdam bikers from a tourist which is hilarious for me. I guess he's not used to bikes being ingrained in daily life and sees it more like motorcycle riding, ie wearing specialised clothing. http://www.ski-epic.com/amsterdam_bicycles/ Fragrag fucked around with this message at 07:56 on May 8, 2012 |
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May 8, 2012 07:51
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Vancouver recognised the benefit to European style bike lanes, much to the dismay of North American ROADS ARE FOR CARS DAMNIT  tears.   On the other hand there's Toronto who's (suburbs) voted in a right wing blowhard to vowed to end the "WAR ON CARS" and give "Respect for taxpayers" who then decided it was a good use of dollars to tear up the bike lanes the previous administration just built.
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May 8, 2012 09:22
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less than three posted:On the other hand there's Toronto who's (suburbs) voted in a right wing blowhard to vowed to end the "WAR ON CARS" and give "Respect for taxpayers" who then decided it was a good use of dollars to tear up the bike lanes the previous administration just built. Yeah, but city council has totally turned on him and he's been reduced to a pitiful husk of a wannabe despot. All of his plans are being dismantled around him, and now he's in court for a conflict of interest trial. With his illusion of power broken all that fat blob of malevolence can do now is cry his tears. Delicious delicious evil politician tears That's maybe a little much. Sorry, I'm mad about the bike lanes. VENGANCE! 
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May 8, 2012 09:54
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Maj._Victory posted:Just started reading through this thread and decided to look into those diverging diamond interchanges mentioned early on. Hell yes! I can't wait to drive through one myself for the first time. I'm a little surprised it was "by far the most expensive alternative," though. What were the other options? Also, love the Civ2 avatar. less than three posted:On the other hand there's Toronto who's (suburbs) voted in a right wing blowhard to vowed to end the "WAR ON CARS" and give "Respect for taxpayers" who then decided it was a good use of dollars to tear up the bike lanes the previous administration just built. Yessir, if there's one way to endear yourself to voters, it's by pissing off a VERY vocal special interest group! Bike lobbies are so notorious that I've seen city planners and mayors visibly shaken at the prospect of presenting a project to them.
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May 8, 2012 12:26
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So I'm going through the last bit of verification for my thesis on traffic jams and the historical model I built for the Western Netherlands (Randstad area) compares pretty well with actual daily congestion data. This is with 2005 traffic data, the orange sections have got a theoretical Intensity/Capacity (or I/C, the measure we use in the NL) of >0,7 and the red sections are >0,9. Busiest 16h per working day, trucks are corrected for etc. There's been a falloff after 2005 because of added capacity and the neat thing is that a couple of previously unreported locations show up in the 2010/11 congestion data.
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May 8, 2012 13:00
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Wedesdo posted:While we're on the subjects of bikes, what can be done about the flagrant running of red lights/stop signs by bicycles? I try to be nice to bikes as much as possible, but it seems like every 2nd bicyclist completely ignores red lights when they think there are no cars coming. I've seen quite a few bikes almost get hit by cars, and every time it was because the bike ran the light. More enforcement by police on foot and on bikes, stationed at critical intersections. We've had some luck with this method in Copenhagen, where the offending cyclists received a quick course on traffic law in addition to their tickets. Apparently, the most common excuses were "I thought that didn't apply to bikes" and "But there was no cross traffic". Doesn't make a lick of difference, it's still a DKK 1000 fine for blowing through a red light: http://translate.google.com/transla...el.aspx&act=url (Ignore £ and $ signs, it's all DKK)
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May 8, 2012 14:15
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The sad thing is most of the time, the only fines bikers who ignore the road rules get is when they killed or seriously injured by a car that WAS following the rules with the biker not paying attention.
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May 8, 2012 14:26
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You get fined if you ride without your hands on the handlebars?  How do I show off my SIKK MOVES to my BMX bros??
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May 8, 2012 14:26
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Maj._Victory posted:Just started reading through this thread and decided to look into those diverging diamond interchanges mentioned early on. As I looked at this, I'm against struck by the question of how, exactly, one prevents rednecks and Mr. Magoo from just turning right at the intersection and going the wrong way? Is the road going to be just littered with "WRONG WAY NO SERIOUSLY" signs? Is there going to be a cop stationed there for the first year?
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May 8, 2012 15:06
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Volmarias posted:As I looked at this, I'm against struck by the question of how, exactly, one prevents rednecks and Mr. Magoo from just turning right at the intersection and going the wrong way? Is the road going to be just littered with "WRONG WAY NO SERIOUSLY" signs? Is there going to be a cop stationed there for the first year? It should be obvious what traffic flow is when there's already traffic using the intersection.
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May 8, 2012 15:17
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theflyingexecutive posted:It should be obvious what traffic flow is when there's already traffic using the intersection. A lot of things should be obvious but we have to cater to the lowest common denominator and the terminally confused here.
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May 8, 2012 15:24
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My window faces a one way street. There are always cars parked on both sides of the street, facing the same way. There is no traffic control facing against the direction of travel. There are clear signs at each egress point that show the proper direction of travel. At least once a day I watch someone drive the wrong way down that street. People don't know, don't care, don't look, don't watch, don't observe, don't give a single flying gently caress what they're doing. They just aren't arsed to bother.
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May 8, 2012 15:29
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Fragrag posted:Is there a difference between American and European cyclists? I keep hearing how American cyclists are quite aggressive and I'm starting to think it's not a grandma on a citybike that they're talking about. Haha, that is indeed quite ridiculous. Thanks for giving me a laugh! I like how he seems to have posted all the email feedback he's gotten telling him to get over it etc.
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May 8, 2012 15:40
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I still have to remind myself not to be such an rear end in a top hat when biking since I always scream and shout at cyclists when I'm driving myself 
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May 8, 2012 15:46
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Dr. Witherbone posted:Yeah, but city council has totally turned on him and he's been reduced to a pitiful husk of a wannabe despot. All of his plans are being dismantled around him, and now he's in court for a conflict of interest trial. With his illusion of power broken all that fat blob of malevolence can do now is cry his tears. Delicious delicious evil politician tears For background: Rob Ford is a far-right city councilor known for fighting against the "War Against Cars" and the "Downtown Mentality," and also throwing temper tantrums in city council meetings when he doesn't get his way. The Toronto suburbanites elected him mayor of the city based on promises of wider roads paved with gold, magical rainbow subways to nowhere and a push to find the "gravy" that resulted in higher taxes typically shouldered by people outside of the core who own white picket fence houses. He did a good job pissing everyone off, to the point that a record 300+ individuals showed up at a city hall meeting last year to speak out in front of city council against practically every cut Ford had proposed (some 40+ hours of deputations). That's not what broke his back, though. As part of his plan, Ford appointed Karen Stintz as head of the local transit commission board, thinking her to be someone he could trust to carry out his transit plans (gently caress street-level transit, gently caress BRT/LRT, subways EVERYWHERE - even if we'll never have the money for it). Unfortunately for him, Councillor Stintz lived up to her reputation as a solid, respectable leader. She got invested in her position, even going as far as participating in Canada's version of Undercover Boss in an effort to get a better understanding of the transit system and the issues it faced. Meanwhile, Ford was telling her to do things that ALL of her advisers and a large chunk of city council were against - and started making threats to remove her when she wouldn't back him. In response, she made backroom deals with a majority of city council to turn against the guy. And once a mayor pisses off city council in Ontario, they're rendered completely useless. The only thing the guy can do right now is act as a (politically-biased) mediator at council meetings until he wins back the trust of council. Varance fucked around with this message at 20:22 on May 8, 2012 |
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May 8, 2012 16:06
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It's taken me just over a week of reading through work and a public holiday, but I've just read every single post up to here. Amazing thread, Cichlidae - it's been riveting! Unfortunately I don't drive myself, coming from the UK where public transport is plentiful (and I failed my driving test twice, that probably has something to do with it), but road planning, signage and railways have always fascinated me. This was lightly touched on around the Page 50 mark, but one thing I've always wondered about regards tunnels and emergency refuges: just what is inside those doors marked with emergency exit signs (apart from hobos)? Is it usual for there to be a secondary pedestrian tunnel leading out? Or are they just refuge rooms? Do they contain any supplies? Have I watched Daylight too many times? I also bear gifts. From Rome, Italy: a small sapling slightly inconveniencing a road near my grandmother's house: http://g.co/maps/8vshd From London: this lovely square was recently redesigned. http://binged.it/JogbzT The road has been raised to almost be level with the pavement, and the high-speed cycle lane leading into the square from both ends has been made flush with the pavement. Also, the cycle lane markings are missing. Result: pedestrians walking into the lane and then shouting at you to "use the sodding cycle lane".
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May 8, 2012 19:07
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Speaking of diamond interchanges, I was back in my hometown for the first time in a while and was greeted with this: http://transportation.ky.gov/US-68-Double-Crossover-Diamond/Pages/default.aspx I thought the traffic pattern was odd, yet familiar, like perhaps from the first page of this thread? This is located in prime redneck territory, but I didn't observe anyone turning down the wrong way. The city has also made the choice to have all left-hand turn signals flash yellow after the left-hand turn is no longer protected. To me, it seemed oddly confusing and unnecessary.
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May 8, 2012 23:16
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Does anyone know about methods of building a road? A highway nearby is being brought to interstate grade, and yesterday they asphalted a wide shoulder on to the existing pavement. By this morning, the shoulder disappeared. Seemed strange, is all.
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May 8, 2012 23:57
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Understeer posted:Speaking of diamond interchanges, I was back in my hometown for the first time in a while and was greeted with this: They use a flashing yellow arrow for unprotected left at an intersection near my parents house because the left-turn only lane is more than a full lane away from the through-lanes. Using a green ball could be confusing (for dumb people) since it's unmistakeably directed for left-turn-only traffic.
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May 9, 2012 00:48
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Well, it looks like more stupid roadblocks to LA ever getting a reliable transit network. The idea is to connect Santa Monica to Los Angeles proper, which is one of the huge bottlenecks, possibly eventually sending a line down to LAX. Every time they try and extend the line, Beverly Hills throws a fit about it (apparently they already blocked the 2 Highway going west as well.). I guess I can hope that one day it'll go through, I don't see how theres any other way to eventually get LA moving, especially after reading this thread. Grrr LA!
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May 9, 2012 02:18
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PkerUNO posted:This was lightly touched on around the Page 50 mark, but one thing I've always wondered about regards tunnels and emergency refuges: just what is inside those doors marked with emergency exit signs (apart from hobos)? Is it usual for there to be a secondary pedestrian tunnel leading out? Or are they just refuge rooms? Do they contain any supplies? Have I watched Daylight too many times? There are a few options: -Typically, there is a smaller-bore maintenance tunnel alongside, which is a pretty good place to await rescue. -In tunnels with multiple bores (one direction of traffic per tunnel), the refuge doors can lead between tunnels. There's usually maintenance and emergency equipment in there. -In some tunnels, especially in shallow ones, there are emergency staircases at regular intervals that go to the surface. If you're in the Gotthard Base Tunnel, you'll run into one about halfway through, but you'd better be ready to climb a thousand meters to get to the surface. Understeer posted:Speaking of diamond interchanges, I was back in my hometown for the first time in a while and was greeted with this: Awesome, DDIs are spreading! I can't wait until I get to design my first one.
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May 9, 2012 03:14
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Okan170 posted:Well, it looks like more stupid roadblocks to LA ever getting a reliable transit network. The idea is to connect Santa Monica to Los Angeles proper, which is one of the huge bottlenecks, possibly eventually sending a line down to LAX. Every time they try and extend the line, Beverly Hills throws a fit about it (apparently they already blocked the 2 Highway going west as well.). I guess I can hope that one day it'll go through, I don't see how theres any other way to eventually get LA moving, especially after reading this thread. Grrr LA! I'd love to see BRT down Wilshire in the meantime. Taking the 720 isn't that unpleasant except for the massive amount of time it takes to get from, say, Ktown to Westwood. e: this map is cool http://www.metro.net/projects_studies/wilshire/images/corridor_wilshire_project_map.pdf
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May 9, 2012 03:14
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Mandalay posted:I'd love to see BRT down Wilshire in the meantime. Taking the 720 isn't that unpleasant except for the massive amount of time it takes to get from, say, Ktown to Westwood. I feel awful having lived in this city and not really known much of any mass transit (I usually have to travel from downtown to either North Hollywood or Santa Monica). I'd love to be able to take something other than a car or hour+ bus ride out there. (North hollywood isn't so bad). I cannot believe LAX is not connected to any subway, its just baffling. I'm also kind of curious to see the wonderful transit re-routing that will have to happen as they move the space shuttle from LAX to the science center over surface streets in the fall.
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May 9, 2012 03:36
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Okan170 posted:I feel awful having lived in this city and not really known much of any mass transit (I usually have to travel from downtown to either North Hollywood or Santa Monica). I'd love to be able to take something other than a car or hour+ bus ride out there. (North hollywood isn't so bad). I cannot believe LAX is not connected to any subway, its just baffling. There are options already, though we both know they could be improved. Metro Red line goes to North Hollywood. There's the FlyAway bus for $7 from LA Union Station. Leaves every half an hour and takes about 40 mins depending on traffic. Obviously not as cool as rail but it's nice to have. I think the idea of Wilshire BRT is to make it so that taking the 720 from downtown to Santa Monica won't take an hour and change. I tried to read the EIR but got kinda bored so I don't know if this is actually true. (though I wonder if there's a way to cut down how long the bus takes to board people because it seems like most of the time is wasted with people paying fares)
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May 9, 2012 03:45
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Cichlidae posted:Awesome, DDIs are spreading! I can't wait until I get to design my first one. The University DDI is a clusterfuck, as there are two major intersection on either side (I think both of them have 2-3x left turn lanes for all directions). Because of this, engineers went with a splintered and braided design. The left/right/straight lanes are all median-separated, with the straight traffic crossover being handled with overpasses instead of an intersection. Traffic can back up inside the DDI without having an impact on the opposite flow.  The DDI at Myakka is replacing a Parclo, of all things. Also a splintered (but signalized) design. 
Varance fucked around with this message at 04:30 on May 9, 2012 |
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May 9, 2012 03:58
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Okan170 posted:Well, it looks like more stupid roadblocks to LA ever getting a reliable transit network. The idea is to connect Santa Monica to Los Angeles proper, which is one of the huge bottlenecks, possibly eventually sending a line down to LAX. Every time they try and extend the line, Beverly Hills throws a fit about it (apparently they already blocked the 2 Highway going west as well.). I guess I can hope that one day it'll go through, I don't see how theres any other way to eventually get LA moving, especially after reading this thread. Grrr LA! The Good News: The Metro will be going to the sea. The Bad News: The Subway to the Sea will not go to the sea, no matter what happens in Beverly Hills. The plan to extend it to Santa Monica died years ago, and now it'll make it as far as the VA hospital. Around 2036. I'm not even kidding. The Silver Lining: The Expo Line will stop 3 blocks short of the beach in 2016. And yes... it will be obscenely overcrowded the moment that happens.
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May 9, 2012 05:02
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Crackpipe posted:The Good News: The Metro will be going to the sea. So what you're saying is that 30/10 isn't happening 
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May 9, 2012 07:45
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Mandalay posted:So what you're saying is that 30/10 isn't happening It is -- the Regional Connector just got approved the other day! The Purple Line extension just got completely screwed by financing. Timetables of the actual construction will make you wonder if they plan on having nothing but two guys with shovels down there. It's actually because each segment needs to be financed and built separately, adding 14 years to the construction timetable. The mayor is trying to get the Feds to front Metro the $$$ to do it all at once, with the city eventually paying it back in full) Crackpipe fucked around with this message at 08:42 on May 9, 2012 |
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May 9, 2012 08:34
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Install Gentoo posted:In the US, bikes are usually considered to be subject to the same traffic laws as cars, and riding on the sidewalk isn't always allowed. Plus I don't think you can really divorce the sidewalk system and the road system.
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May 9, 2012 10:57
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grover posted:Know what strikes me the most about this? A lot of cars, an utter lack of any bicycles, and a lot of wasted space. How is taking 2/3 of the traffic lanes away for bicycles justified when the # of cars clearly way outnumbers the number of bicycles? A lot of the point is to discourage car use, because Manhattan is so incredibly, ridiculously crowded with cars, and to cut down on pollution.
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May 9, 2012 12:13
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Varance posted:That first, grade-separated one is going to be absolutely heroic. 5000 cars per hour in each direction? Yes please!
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May 9, 2012 12:25
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grover posted:Know what strikes me the most about this? A lot of cars, an utter lack of any bicycles, and a lot of wasted space. How is taking 2/3 of the traffic lanes away for bicycles justified when the # of cars clearly way outnumbers the number of bicycles? Before the bike lane this road was presumably just another potential deathtrap for a cyclist - demand isn't going to explode overnight.
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May 9, 2012 12:53
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Jonnty posted:Before the bike lane this road was presumably just another potential deathtrap for a cyclist - demand isn't going to explode overnight. The next step after providing better cycle lanes is presumably to implement a cycle hire scheme if the city centre is compact enough? I think they've been successful in Europe and Canada, but what about the US? And thanks for the answer, Cichlidae!
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May 9, 2012 12:57
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PkerUNO posted:The next step after providing better cycle lanes is presumably to implement a cycle hire scheme if the city centre is compact enough? I think they've been successful in Europe and Canada, but what about the US? I've heard rumblings that something like that is gonna start happening in NYC, but I'm not sure.
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May 9, 2012 13:47
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Wedesdo posted:While we're on the subjects of bikes, what can be done about the flagrant running of red lights/stop signs by bicycles? I try to be nice to bikes as much as possible, but it seems like every 2nd bicyclist completely ignores red lights when they think there are no cars coming. I've seen quite a few bikes almost get hit by cars, and every time it was because the bike ran the light. More education is needed so that cyclists know which side of the road to ride on, and to stop at lights, but... if you could get every single driver of a car to do the same, that would be great. So many times as a pedestrian I've nearly been run over crossing on a walk signal, because someone turning right couldn't be bothered to look. Better enforcement of the rules by the police, prosecuting offenders on both sides would help. Drivers in the US get away with all kinds of dangerous stuff like not signalling, weaving, talking on phones, etc that should be come down hard on. grover posted:Know what strikes me the most about this? A lot of cars, an utter lack of any bicycles, and a lot of wasted space. How is taking 2/3 of the traffic lanes away for bicycles justified when the # of cars clearly way outnumbers the number of bicycles? *Sees a picture of a street taken at who knows what time of day, assumes it looks like that all the time* If you looked at a lot of streets in a lot of places at certain times of day with that same attitude, you'd say "why is this road here, no one is using it?" Or maybe you wouldn't, because it's okay to have acres of wasted space if it's for cars, the most important mode of transport in the universe. Space is at a premium in a city and what space there is has to work for everyone.
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May 9, 2012 15:44
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grover posted:Know what strikes me the most about this? A lot of cars, an utter lack of any bicycles, and a lot of wasted space. How is taking 2/3 of the traffic lanes away for bicycles justified when the # of cars clearly way outnumbers the number of bicycles? Thanks for being part of the problem. There's no good reason to cater to a car in an area of the country that is the densest, most expensive, and best served by transit of any other area in the country.
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May 9, 2012 15:47
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Midget Fist posted:More education is needed so that cyclists know which side of the road to ride on, and to stop at lights, but... if you could get every single driver of a car to do the same, that would be great. So many times as a pedestrian I've nearly been run over crossing on a walk signal, because someone turning right couldn't be bothered to look. Better enforcement of the rules by the police, prosecuting offenders on both sides would help. Drivers in the US get away with all kinds of dangerous stuff like not signalling, weaving, talking on phones, etc that should be come down hard on. "OMG WAR ON THE MOTORIST WHY AREN'T YOU POLICE CATCHING REAL CRIMINALS!?" ...is what everyone says if you do that.
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May 9, 2012 17:25
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Well it is a bit interesting to put super wide bike lanes on NYC avenues, since the rest of the city is pretty much a bike death trap. Making those same spaces pedestrian seems to have a better overall effect. And it's not like those biking people would have been driving in midtown manhattan anyways.
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May 9, 2012 17:39
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grover posted:Know what strikes me the most about this? A lot of cars, an utter lack of any bicycles, and a lot of wasted space. How is taking 2/3 of the traffic lanes away for bicycles justified when the # of cars clearly way outnumbers the number of bicycles? Have you ever even been to New York City? There's shitloads of bicyclists.  It's also not taking away 2/3 of the traffic lanes, there were 6 lanes before, 2 used for parking, leaving 4 through traffic lanes. There's now 5 traffic lanes, with 3 through traffic lanes, and the bike lane is a turning lane at intersections where you can make a left turn. smackfu posted:Well it is a bit interesting to put super wide bike lanes on NYC avenues, since the rest of the city is pretty much a bike death trap. Making those same spaces pedestrian seems to have a better overall effect. And it's not like those biking people would have been driving in midtown manhattan anyways. Super wide? It's a regular lane wide. That's not super wide.
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May 9, 2012 18:53
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