“Future city streets will be in four levels,” says Mr. Corbett, architect, in Popular Science Monthly in 1925. “The top level for pedestrians, the next lower level for slow motor traffic, the next for fast motor traffic and the lowest for electric trains. Great blocks of terraced skyscrapers half a mile high will house offices, schools, homes and playgrounds in successive levels, while the roofs will be aircraft landing-fields.”
Traffic can be a nightmare – especially in big cities. A visual arts student filmed a 3-way intersection in NYC to show why 74 per cent of accidents happen in intersections: pedestrians jaywalking, cyclists running red lights, and motorists plowing through crosswalks.
But there are other places in this world where traffic is even less organized and looks more dangerous but still works – for example in India. Every one who owns a vehicle, whether a two wheeler, 3 wheeler or four wheeler has just learnt to manover the vehicle on the road, not in respect to the rules but in respect to the movement of other vehicles around.
Some European countries have adopted this form of traffic regulation, to minimise fatal accidents within city limits. It’s called “Shared Space”.
Ukraine has the highest percentage of pedestrian collisions in Eastern Europe. How to slow down reckless drivers? Shell tries to shock them with “pedestrian ghosts”.
A radar reacts to a speeding car. Then the device inflates the “pedestrian ghost” balloon. At night the device was placed at a pedestrian crossing in an Ukranian city. During one night 7 cars slowed down.
San Francisco has experienced a cycling boom in recent year: 58 percent more people are biking today than just four years ago. This means bicycle safety becomes a big issue. For “Light Up the Night” the city transit authority purchased 2,000 bike lights which will be given to bikers traveling without lights.
Crazy Motobike racing through the city rush hour traffic. The practitioner starts with so called “Gaswheelie”, means the front wheel lifts off. The speed indicator stands at more than 180 mph. The driver bombs down the street through the stop-and-go traffic. Everthing counting seems to be speed and adrenaline. Most peolpe commented that as crazy and scary…..
Every year the USA counts between 3.000 and 5.000 deaths of motorcycle riders. Most accidents occur at night. During rush hour traffic especially other peolple are at risk if motorcycle riders dash through the traffic.
4 minutes worth watching: “Manhattan in Motion” is a excellent time-lapse by Mindrelic (with a hint of tiltshift I guess). No surprise that it’s called the city that never sleeps.
Simple yet brilliant: If your are in a hurry, ring a bicycle bell. People seem to be trained on making way if they hear this sound. We’re impressed that it even works in the subway – at least in Japan.
Do you think this would work in your country just as well?
After some months of road works, the crossroad in front of the Kunsthaus (Graz) got a new traffic light: Only a red one. Too strange …
People know what to do if they are waiting in front of a traffic light. They are waiting for the light to turn green. But: What if there is no green light? Only a red one? – Nobody dares to cross the street even if the red light is off.
Everyone crossing the street for the first time waits for a sign … for the light to turn green. (Me too btw…) The light turns red and all those folks waiting realize that they would have been allowed to cross the street. When the red light is off again, some brave folks carefully cross the street and others follow.
Does this reveal the overload of traffic signs in modern society that there is so much need for a green light?
Which means of transport do you use usually? I usually drive by bike.
Why do you use it? Using the bike means complete flexibility – I can easily pass by all the cars waiting at the red light…I would not like to lose this quick fix. Besides, getting caught by the police for driving fast is so much more difficult ;)
Which is your favorite means of transport? I really like driving the car – going fast down the highway (let me add: GERMAN highways)…;)
Why? Driving by car serves a high degree of comfort and more independence than taking the bus or the train. It is relaxing to drive from A to B in my own “room” with my own chosen music and my own pace. But I do not like going by car in the city because the worsening traffic conditions make my own trip longer and more stressful.
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