Pulling up to an intersection where the traffic
lights aren't working is confusing. Whose turn is it to go? Who has the
right-of-way? Inevitably, you have to negotiate the intersection by
interacting--you look around for pedestrians, then, making eye contact
with other drivers, slowly pull across the intersection.
This phenomenon--heightened driver attention and slower traffic in
the absence of directions--is the core of a new philosophy of
transportation planning: "naked streets." The naked-streets movement,
also known as "shared space," "mental speed bumps," or "psychological
traffic calming," advocates the elimination of traffic lights and
signs, lines on the street, and curbs separating pedestrian space from
vehicle space.
Hans Monderman, the pragmatic Dutch planner who was one of the first
to introduce the naked streets concept in Holland, reorganized streets
so that cars had to proceed as cautiously as pedestrians. Drachten, a
city of 45,000 people, has removed more than 80 percent of its traffic
lights and more than half its road signs under Monderman's guidance:
the number of accidents has dropped dramatically. "I am used to it
now," Drachten resident Helena Spaanstra told one newspaper. "You drive
more slowly and carefully, but somehow you seem to get around town
quicker."
Early in his career, Monderman pursued traditional traffic-calming
mechanisms like landscaping and speed bumps. All that changed when
Monderman observed traffic patterns in a woonerf, a plaza
without curbs or painted lane markers. Speed bumps usually result in a
10-percent average drop in the speed of cars, but in the woonerf cars
drove nearly 50 percent more slowly, as they carefully made sure to
avoid other cars and pedestrians.
Throughout Europe, cities are exploring the potential of naked
streets, some with financial support from the E.U. For the most part,
it is smaller cities and towns that are experimenting with the model,
but even in London, pilot projects are under way to test their
applicability. Early results suggest similar effects as to what was
found in Holland. Good Magazine
Thanks Meilin.
La idea es muy buena..pero supongo que tendrá éxito depende de la cultura/comportamiento de la ciudadanía...Aca donde vivo(Pasco,Fl) hay muchos "4way stops",y en estos pares nunca hay accidentes... Donde mas accidentes suceden es en las carreteras interestatales donde se guia volando bajito..No creo q la idea funcione en PR, la mayoría de la gente guia muy agresivamente..Se ve mucho menosprecio a la vida de los demás...
Te has visto en la situacion donde el semaforo se daña y todo el mundo quiere pasar primero? Dime si en PR cuando la ambulancia pasa se le van detras para coger pon con ella... Dime cuantos conducen por el carril de emergencia... Para q la idea sin semaforos funcione habria q reeducar a la gente, cambiar comportamientos...lo veo dificil, es mas, imposible.