Part 2: Roads FiT for People

Portishead lights-off trial which began on 14 September 2009 and went permanent after journey times fell by over half with no loss of pedestrian safety

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Martin Cassini
• mjcassini
• Portishead
• Cabstand
• traffic-lights
• traffic-lights-off trial

[mjcassini]

I don't know who removed the comment by 123iii. I took it as a joke. He said: "Take turns? According to social convention? Screw that... just stay out of my way and everything will be fine."

[mjcassini]

It's not government that inspired or pioneered these changes, indeed too often they are part of the problem. This story is about an individual campaigner and a responsive council.

[mjcassini]

Thanks Luc, I hadn't heard that "joke" before - very good (or bad) - it speaks volumes!

[mjcassini]

Yield to the right is an advance on yielding to two streams of traffic coming at you from opposite directions, but it can be inept, e.g. from a semi-concealed road. Also, it's an engineering model based on status of road or direction of travel, and doesn't help with speed calming. To my mind, filter-in-turn based on time of arrival - a social model - is the optimum solution because it reflects our human nature. It allows infinite filtering opportunities and expressions of fellow feeling.

[mjcassini]

Thanks for your comments. Interested parties may be interested in visiting and possibly joining Free to Choose Free To Move, and/or my Facebook page, Roads FiT for People. 

[mjcassini]

In most cases, roundabouts are an improvement on signal control, but I have three reservations: they take up a lot of road space, which may be less of an issue in Oz; they encourage vehicle domination at the expense of pedestrians and cyclists; at peak times, they can produce unbroken streams of priority traffic. Could filter in turn be the best of all worlds?

[mjcassini]

@neoporcupine -

People are intrinsically polite. What makes them intolerant and aggressive on the road is regulation that treats them like idiots. Why should we wait at red when no-one is using the green? Why can we judge when it's OK to go if we're on foot, but not if we're on wheels? Who is the better judge of when, or how fast to go - you and me at the time and the place, or lights and limits fixed by absent regulators? Given responsibility and choice, people become human again.

[mjcassini]

@shwong866 -

It's priority and the green light that license speed and aggression. Remove them, and you create a level playing-field where road-users can interact as equals. Do we barge in front of cashpoint queues? Why should we act differently on the road?

[KyleSkullz]

@Codylupardus

hahahaha... :-D

The Social Contract: You rob me, build a road, I use the road, you tell me i owe you for the road.

[Codylupardus]

@KyleSkullz you forgot about the roads? o.O

balance FTW.

[KyleSkullz]

Anarchy works, if only we embrace it. :-)

[s0beit]

Interesting that I've never considered this before. Road lights actually create a horrible moral hazard don't they. Not only do they cause congestion because they have been dreamed up by bureaucrats but people actually pay less mind to the world around them with lights. Curious indeed.....

[SuperGuitarman69]

This is absolutely brilliant. The British people are wonderful people do not get me wrong, but why are they surprised? I will tell you why. They live in a country to where from cradle to grave they live in a government controlled system. They think government actually needs to take care of them because they are incompetent. It's bs. That woman probably wasted a year of her life at that one light if she grew up there. Thank you government. Take the chains off. Free Europe! And kill the EU TOO!

[ChickenC0re]

There really needs to be an alternative. Sitting at a light for over 3 minutes while no one is moving gets old. We are getting 0 MPG and pouring tons of toxic emissions in the air just sitting there. I would be very happy if my city adopted a no stop light policy. My city has less than 60,000 people, but it takes over 20 minutes to travel 15 blocks thanks to red lights.

[ChickenC0re]

Hey, it's Dawn French @ 4:24 .