Quote:
In Denmark, the town of Christianfield stripped the traffic signs and signals from its major intersection and cut the number of serious or fatal accidents a year from three to zero. In England, towns in Suffolk and Wiltshire have removed lane lines from secondary roads in an effort to slow traffic - experts call it "psychological traffic calming." A dozen other towns in the UK are looking to do the same. A study of center-line removal in Wiltshire, conducted by the Transport Research Laboratory, a UK transportation consultancy, found that drivers with no center line to guide them drove more safely and had a 35 percent decrease in the number of accidents.
In the US, traffic engineers are beginning to rethink the dictum that the car is king and pedestrians are well advised to get the heck off the road. In West Palm Beach, Florida, planners have redesigned several major streets, removing traffic signals and turn lanes, narrowing the roadbed, and bringing people and cars into much closer contact. The result: slower traffic, fewer accidents, shorter trip times. "I think the future of transportation in our cities is slowing down the roads," says Ian Lockwood, the transportation manager for West Palm Beach during the project and now a transportation and design consultant. "When you try to speed things up, the system tends to fail, and then you're stuck with a design that moves traffic inefficiently and is hostile to pedestrians and human exchange."
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.12/traffic.html
Quote:
London major Boris Johnson has announced plans to remove traffic lights and white lines from the capital's streets after the measures reduced the number of accidents in Kensington High Street by 44 per cent over the last two years.
http://www.trl.co.uk/trl-news-hub/transp...s_800023121.htm
Fewer lights and signs seems to give better safety and traffic flow. Sounds like a great idea to me.
In Denmark, the town of Christianfield stripped the traffic signs and signals from its major intersection and cut the number of serious or fatal accidents a year from three to zero. In England, towns in Suffolk and Wiltshire have removed lane lines from secondary roads in an effort to slow traffic - experts call it "psychological traffic calming." A dozen other towns in the UK are looking to do the same. A study of center-line removal in Wiltshire, conducted by the Transport Research Laboratory, a UK transportation consultancy, found that drivers with no center line to guide them drove more safely and had a 35 percent decrease in the number of accidents.
In the US, traffic engineers are beginning to rethink the dictum that the car is king and pedestrians are well advised to get the heck off the road. In West Palm Beach, Florida, planners have redesigned several major streets, removing traffic signals and turn lanes, narrowing the roadbed, and bringing people and cars into much closer contact. The result: slower traffic, fewer accidents, shorter trip times. "I think the future of transportation in our cities is slowing down the roads," says Ian Lockwood, the transportation manager for West Palm Beach during the project and now a transportation and design consultant. "When you try to speed things up, the system tends to fail, and then you're stuck with a design that moves traffic inefficiently and is hostile to pedestrians and human exchange."
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.12/traffic.html
Quote:
London major Boris Johnson has announced plans to remove traffic lights and white lines from the capital's streets after the measures reduced the number of accidents in Kensington High Street by 44 per cent over the last two years.
http://www.trl.co.uk/trl-news-hub/transp...s_800023121.htm
Fewer lights and signs seems to give better safety and traffic flow. Sounds like a great idea to me.
