|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Pedestrians made to walk faster so that cars can go faster.
Its not difficult to see where pretend cyclist Boris is coming from.
Has anyone seen him using a car recently? How are people with walking difficulties and who are slow on foot supposed to cross the road? They aren't even allowed enough time at crossings already. "Pedestrians will be made to walk faster on crossings under a plan favouring motorists that Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, has proposed. Digital signs that count down the seconds until cars get a green light would be introduced at 6,000 sets of lights. Those on foot will lose up to six seconds of crossing time during each phase. The signs are part of the mayor’s plan to give more green time to traffic at the expense of pedestrians. He hopes that pedestrians will either speed up as they see the countdown approaching zero or, if they are slow walkers, wait at the kerb for the next green man phase. Mr Johnson hopes that the extra green time will smooth the flow of traffic and help to cope with the increase in cars expected next year when he halves the size of the congestion charge zone..." http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle5883358.ece -- Car Free Cities http://www.carfree.com/ Carfree Cities proposes a delightful solution to the vexing problem of urban automobiles. |
Ads |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
Pedestrians made to walk faster so that cars can go faster.
Sounds like good new for cyclists...
Pedestrians will be made to walk faster on crossings under a plan favouring motorists [and cyclists] that Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, has proposed. Digital signs that count down the seconds until cars [and cycles] get a green light would be introduced at 6,000 sets of lights. Those on foot will lose up to six seconds of crossing time during each phase. Mr Johnson hopes that the extra green time will smooth the flow of traffic and help to cope with the increase in cars [and cycles] .... less time waiting on red staring at an empty crossing, less temptation to jump the lights, a countdown until they change so you can judge whether to speed up and get to the front of the queue or slow down and tuck in behind as you approach. As someone who has around 50 sets of lights to negotiate each morning and evening it sounds good to me. |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
Pedestrians made to walk faster so that cars can go faster.
Doug wrote:
Digital signs that count down the seconds until cars get a green light would be introduced at 6,000 sets of lights. Good. Those on foot will lose up to six seconds of crossing time during each phase. Not good. Mr Johnson hopes that the extra green time will smooth the flow of traffic and help to cope with the increase in cars expected next year when he halves the size of the congestion charge zone..." Beats me why he can't just increase the green for traffic time, and keep the same time for pedestrians. This might keep a better flow going, and not inconvenience pedestrians at the same time. -- Paul - xxx '96/'97 Landrover Discovery 300 Tdi Dyna Tech Cro-Mo comp |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
Pedestrians made to walk faster so that cars can go faster.
In message
, Doug writes Digital signs that count down the seconds until cars get a green light would be introduced at 6,000 sets of lights. These "second count down time" on the crossing phase of lights are normal in several foreign cities and give people an idea whether to cross or no, instead of "I'll take a chance whilst the green man is flashing". -- Clive |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
Pedestrians made to walk faster so that cars can go faster.
Paul - xxx wrote, On 13/03/2009 08:35: Beats me why he can't just increase the green for traffic time, and keep the same time for pedestrians. This might keep a better flow going, and not inconvenience pedestrians at the same time. It would inconvenience pedestrians, because having to wait for ages for a pedestrian phase is very annoying, especially if you can see your bus coming on the other side of the road. It encourages people to cross against the light. LN -- Professor of Madeupology at the University of Myhouse |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
Pedestrians made to walk faster so that cars can go faster.
On 13 Mar, 06:30, Doug wrote:
Digital signs that count down the seconds until cars get a green light would be introduced at 6,000 sets of lights. This bit is a good idea, we have it already in places and it also counts down to the next crossing phase. Cutting the time by 6 seconds is a bad idea though. What would be better is only having pedestrian phases if they are needed ( often they are automated rather than button press). Another would be more sensors that detect if there isn't any traffic. Why stop the flow for no reason. Fod |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
Pedestrians made to walk faster so that cars can go faster.
"POHB" writes:
Digital signs that count down the seconds until cars [and cycles] get a green light would be introduced at 6,000 sets of lights. Those on foot will lose up to six seconds of crossing time during each phase. [...] ... less time waiting on red staring at an empty crossing, less temptation to jump the lights, a countdown until they change so you can judge whether to speed up and get to the front of the queue or slow down and tuck in behind as you approach. As someone who has around 50 sets of lights to negotiate each morning and evening it sounds good to me. If the goal is to minimise time spent waiting at an empty junction, the simplest solution would be to shorten ped phases but paint the pedestrian crossing with zebra stripes, then put cameras on it and come down like a tonne of bricks on anyone who thinks green means "go" not merely "go if the way is clear". Then the wait is short if the road is empty but pedestrians still have as long to cross as they need. Waiting at empty junctions annoys me as much as anyone, but the way to fix that is not by penalising the elderly, infirm, or disabled by putting pressure on them to stay off the road if they can't sprint it. Sounds like a return to the 1970s -dan |
#8
|
|||
|
|||
Pedestrians made to walk faster so that cars can go faster.
lardyninja wrote:
Paul - xxx wrote, On 13/03/2009 08:35: Beats me why he can't just increase the green for traffic time, and keep the same time for pedestrians. This might keep a better flow going, and not inconvenience pedestrians at the same time. It would inconvenience pedestrians, because having to wait for ages for a pedestrian phase is very annoying, especially if you can see your bus coming on the other side of the road. It encourages people to cross against the light. Fair point. Maybe pedestrian button controlled lights for ped crossing. That'd stop unnecessary traffic queues forming when no-one's crossing, and could possibly even lengthen the ped crossing phase. -- Paul - xxx '96/'97 Landrover Discovery 300 Tdi Dyna Tech Cro-Mo comp |
#9
|
|||
|
|||
Pedestrians made to walk faster so that cars can go faster.
lardyninja wrote:
Paul - xxx wrote, On 13/03/2009 08:35: Beats me why he can't just increase the green for traffic time, and keep the same time for pedestrians. This might keep a better flow going, and not inconvenience pedestrians at the same time. It would inconvenience pedestrians, because having to wait for ages for a pedestrian phase is very annoying, especially if you can see your bus coming on the other side of the road. It encourages people to cross against the light. And do you imagine that it somehow isn't annoying to have to wait four minutes at red in a motor vehicle, only to find that the (eventual) green phase is eight seconds long and allows five vehicles through, when you are sixth (or perhaps sixteenth) in the queue? |
#10
|
|||
|
|||
Pedestrians made to walk faster so that cars can go faster.
|
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
red was always faster | [email protected] | Techniques | 19 | December 19th 08 08:03 PM |
Cars are faster ;-) | Martin Dann | UK | 4 | July 28th 07 10:57 AM |
faster casing = faster tires?!@ | bfd | Techniques | 23 | June 1st 07 10:33 PM |
OT - Remove humps, cars go faster, crash | POHB | UK | 39 | April 1st 07 04:45 PM |
Cars are definitely faster - not. | Tony W | UK | 32 | July 25th 03 10:23 AM |