Realistic traffic solutions for Somerville?

[turil.livejournal.com]

Yesterday, I walked down to Davis Square and, being the transportation geek that I am, I naturally watched the traffic to see what people were up to. This is what I noticed:

- A very large percentage of people, if not most, don't actually come to a legal and safe stop at stop signs, stop lines, and even some red lights. (They either blow through them, slow down but don't actually stop long enough to be able to yield to the traffic that has the right of way, or don't stop until they are well into the intersection and block cross-traffic.)

- Some people rely on stop signs, red lights, and crosswalks for safety (specifically, cross-traffic with the right of way - both vehiclular and pedestrian traffic).

- Other people, who believe that stop signs/lines/signals aren't very reliable indicators of safety, are afraid to use the public ways or are reluctant to go when they have the right of way. (Especially those who don't have a couple of tons of metal armor protecting them!)

- Current policing doesn't seem to be making things better, and the problem is rapidly increasing! (I used to walk to school by myself when I was in kindergarden in this area, and these days I imagine that there isn't a single parent around here who would feel safe letting their kid walk to school alone.)

What to do? It seems like we need a solution that combines a realistic understanding of natural human behavior (including inertia, self-centeredness, and self-preservation), real physical and emotional safety, and clearly defined policies/design. Should we stick with the stop signs, lines, and signals, and just spend lots more money on enforcement? Should we try to create new street designs and signs that work better than the ones we have? Should we try to change people's natural behavior by getting them to understand how important it is for them to cooperate with others? The usual solutions that come from traffic engineers, the police, and city hall don't seem to be working for Somerville. So, I'm thinking that the solution needs to come by thinking a bit more "outside the box"... (remember, Davis Square isn't actually a square! :-)

Also, can we learn anything from other parts of the world where traffic does flow well and safely? Or learn from the past, when things were better in Somerville?

Comments

[cden4.livejournal.com]

Stop signs are traffic lights tend to enforce a rigid top-down approach to traffic flow. Some cities are removing signs and lights, replacing them with roundabouts, and allowing all users of the road to negotiate and interact with each other.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/11/04/ntraffic04.xml

I've also read that in other countries, they have yield signs where we have stop signs. Coming to a dead stop in a motor vehicle or a bicycle is often not necessary to operate safely, as can be shown with the way that many people drive.

I hate how there is so much focus by drivers on making the green light, instead of actually paying attention and interacting with other users of the road. I wonder if it would be possible to design roads in the Boston area that encourage slow steady speeds and force people to yield to others when necessary.

An example... Mass Ave in Cambridge is such an inefficient road. Traffic speeds up to the next red light and then sits there, often for much of the cycle where there are no vehicles or pedestrians in the other directions. This would be much better if there was a way to have a slow steady speed. Motorists and bicyclists would have to yield to pedestrians and the slower automobile speed would make the road much more easily shared by bicyclists. Of course, this would require everyone to actually respect each other and be nice. Are Bostonians too self-centered for this to actually work? Who knows!

[lizzyclean.livejournal.com]

I think people all over the world are selfish drivers, not just Bostonians. We do not own the copyright on self-centeredness. I loathe how everyone always says Bostonians are jerks. GOOD PEOPLE ARE OUT THERE!!!! Argh.

Better roads and more space would help for sure, but human nature is tough to battle.

Argh.

[nalz.livejournal.com]

Bostonians as people are not bad. But put them behind a wheel and they are much worse than many of the other cities I have lived in. As a whole, the greater boston area is pretty terrible about people blowing lights/stop signs/stopping in the middle of the road/etc. It's common here and it's not elsewhere. Go drive in LA for a week and wonder at people who *obey* stop signs at 4 way stops, and yield!

[c-m-i.livejournal.com]

That's because people in LA have guns in their cars. Here, we just have muscular middle fingers.

[turil.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I chalk it up to high stress. Bostonians, far and above most other groups of people, seem to feel obligated to be "successful" and to a lot of people that means being overworked, in a hurry, and never quite being satisfied with what they've got. So a red light represents failure or punishment or something to people, rather than an opportunity to relax for a few precious seconds and take a look around at all the interesting things going on in the world.

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

Bostonians are *differently* bad. I was flabbergasted in LA to see people actually obey traffic lights and signs (I'm told the tickets are flamboyantly expensive). But LA freeway driving is a whole other world of white-knuckle, with high-speed multilane merges so dramatic you just have to tip your hat in awe while your heart is racing. Boston's unique horrors take place at low speeds and on surface roads.

Personally, having learned to bike and drive in the area, it seems to me like there's a pretty established set of rules for how to operate -- they're not the laws, but they are rules, and they're consistent. But they do require a bit of crazy and are not particularly forgiving to people who learned to drive elsewhere, eg in civilized places.