Shared Space pedestrian and traffic interaction, Bern, Switzerland

Free-flowing pedestrian and traffic flows along this busy suburban arterial route into Bern. illustrates the potential for improving pedestrian flows where a low-speed traffic environment has been created. Road carries over 20,000 vehicles per day. First three years of this and similar schemes have seen traffic flows improve, pedestrian delays reduced and significant improvements in accident rates. All former signal-controlled pedestrian crossings were removed. Ben Hamilton-Baillie and Fritz Kobi

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Shared space
• pedestrian crossing
• traffic in towns
• safety

[benhb]

I can assure you that it has little to do with culture! You can find examples of this sort of traffic/pedestrian dynamic in most countries in the world. The key issue is managing driver expectations and creating slow-speed, steady-flow traffic movement. Civility is the natural default mode for human behaviour.

[benhb]

You can find details of this street and its location on the hamilton-baillie.co.uk website. Go to "Gallery" > "Rest of the World" > "Germany" (strangely!), and click on the link for "Koenitzstrasse". You can locate the project on the google earth map.

[benhb]

traffic lights do not contribute to pedestrian safety. on the contrary, research suggests that pedestrians are significantly more at risk of death or serious injury at signal controlled junctions and crossings, than where there are no crossings at all. formal crossings create the circumstances that in turn make them necessary.

[mulad]

Looking at the area on Google Street View, I see a lot of bright orange bollards there now. Is that a permanent modification, or is it just a seasonal thing (presumably guiding where snow plows can go)?

[tenacious1884]

if you ever cross the streets like this on my country, you would be killed already, this is amazing.. I believe I could be one more example of swiss citizen that contributes to culture and peace. Thanks for the vid. =)

[Davidd2075]

Where is this street in Bern ?

[mjcassini]

Traffic lights symbolise a dysfunctional, anti-social system. Here we see life on the street as it should be: mutual respect among all road-users, with pedestrians at the top of the hierarchy, if there is one. The design of the street creates a social context which promotes peaceful coexistence. Pedestrians have responsibilities as well as rights, though, and should give way to motorists if the motorist was there first, i.e. they shouldn't force sudden stops. Martin Cassini, Roads FiT for People

[KPKonliner]

they cross the street ithout traffic light ? is that dangerous ?