Chaos
Mon, November 4, 2019 I remember some years ago in the UK, I believe it was during the 1970s, the British Government decided to do a study to find out why pedestrians did not bump into each other, or cause a huge gridlock in the middle of the street when crossing the road at a light.
In big cities like London during rush hour, large numbers of people would wait to cross on opposing sides of the street. When the light turned green, they would all cross at the same time, in what must have appeared to traffic engineers, complete chaos.
Someone in their wisdom decided to do a study, because that’s what engineers do when they don’t have answers. After spending several tens of thousands British Pounds, of the tax payer’s money, they came up with this astounding discovery:
“People just go around each other.”
Walking, the original means to get from A to B, just putting one foot in front of the other. Look down on any busy street in any large city and it appears to be chaos, with people going every which way. However, beneath the chaos there is order, each individual has a destination and is just taking the route necessary to get there.
Now watch the video (Below.) of Market Street in San Francisco in 1905. Into the mix of people walking, has been added horse drawn vehicles, automobiles, and bicycles.
The same chaos prevails, but people simply go around each other.
The reason it works is because there are less people and everyone is going very slow. I wonder how long it took in 1905 to get from one end of Market Street to the other, and I wonder how that time compares to today?
The strange thing I find is that there is more sanity in the chaotic street scene above than I see in a typical rush hour street scene of today. Back then there were no trafic lights, and everyone was moving, albeit at a much slower speed.
It is the huge variation in speed between people walking, bicycles and autos that cause most of the problems in our large cities, both accidents and traffic hold ups.
If pedestrians pretty much kept to the sidewalks, if cars slowed down to closer the speed of a bicycle, I believe everyone would get to their destination just as fast, not to mention a lot less stressed.
Try making that argument to the guy who has spent thousands on the latest car that does zero to sixty in seconds, it will never happen. But please, allow me my flight of the imagination.
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Reader Comments (10)
How strangely hipnotic that video is! Everything moving at human pace rather than technology dictating the pace!
I agree with your thoughts. Today, we're all in a hurry to get somewhere....causing us to get nowhere, fast.
You make a very good point, Dave. I've also seen videos of traffic in third world countries and they seem to manage just fine in spite of the huge volume and diverse conveyances and pedestrians. But now we have a whole new problem, distracted driving and walking. People with their noses in their smartphones bumping into each other, obstacles and even vehicular traffic.
Cycling advocates in L.A. have been trying to make a similar argument about street designs — using “road diets” to better control and slow vehicle traffic actually eases congestion and increases safety — but vocal motorists (and, unfortunately, some city council members) have protested, rejected and reversed changes. This despite the fact that research and direct evidence supports what the advocates have been saying. Too many car drivers think they’ll get somewhere faster if they’re left to their own methods (and speeds). What works best is a synchronized system that forces everyone to conform (yes, I know, some see such notions as supposed threats to American individualism 🙄).
People wonder how the 6 lane round about around the Arc de Triomphe works in Paris without lane markers or traffic lights. It just does because you have to be patient, you have to go slow, and you have to be on the look out for other road users.
Also I wanted to thank you for your article 'My Brooks Saddle: Butchered but not Blocked' which allowed me to see why saddles of racers in the 1950s and 1960s looked different to bought saddles of the time.
I've seen that video before, I believe it was filmed just a few days before the great earthquake
Road Diets DON"T WORK !!!! They just piss off drivers !!!! I ride and I drive. They are the politicians way of trying to get everyone out of their cars and take alternative transportation. The big problem is there are too many people in LA ( I have lived here 58 years) and as long as people use their phones while driving ( and riding) they are distracted and not paying attention. It has really gotten bad in the last five years. People just don't care whether you are driving or riding. They have the "it's all about me and screw everyone else" attitude so they drive as the damn well please and with no enforcement they get away with it all the time.
Brian, Your remark sounds like the talking points of the groups in LA that fight any attempt to change the car-first mentality in transportation planning. (And whose propaganda campaign fills up the results of a Google search.) Your closing statement is actually one of the reasons why road diets are needed and why they work. https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/road_diets/guidance/info_guide/ch2.cfm
Look at the research. Controls on traffic that establish reliable expectations for motorists, that keep drivers from jockeying for position to try to go faster, and that maintain a somewhat regular rhythm with timed traffic lights, good signage, etc., help high volumes of traffic move better and safer. A couple road-diet attempts backfired in LA because the LADOT set them up without all the necessary elements. When done correctly, road diets work.
Richard, You make valid points. Do you live in LA ? I've seen all the changes. People are not going to get out of their cars because the alternative transportation system doesn't get them close to where they need to go. We had the red, yellow the green cars in LA ( it ended in 1961) and the people were sold out by Firestone, Standard Oil and other giant corporations for buses. Bus traffic is pretty slim these days. LA was built horizontally On paper it all looks good and in some places it might work, but I suggest you look at the "Road Diet " traffic on Venice Bl. in Mar Vista on any given day and talk to all the local business people ( those who are left in business) in this area because it's a nightmare and businesses have shut their doors because of loss of parking and increased traffic. It also doesn't help if the LOSER Mayor Eric Garsmellie and the local LOSER City Councilman Mike "Bong Hit " Bonin are involved because of the escalating homeless problem they are not fixing. They took 2 BILLION dollars for homeless housing and haven't finished one unit at a cost of $500K+ each. With these two idiots at the helm one can see why we have issues. I'm not saying road diets can't work, but not in LA.I don't need to argue with you. Come out and witness it for yourself by sitting through it in your car.
Brian ... I’ve lived in LA for 25 years and have experienced all sorts of aggressive behavior from motorists — drivers of black SUV’s with tinted windows especially seem to have it out for me. Anyway, I agree it’s a tough issue without easy solutions. I’m just advocating for road designs and laws that can empasize to motorists that they don’t have greater rights to use the streets than cyclists and pedestrians. Between our 2 screeds, I think we pretty well covered it. Best.