Author Topic: You voted for him, you got him...  (Read 9968 times)

Re: You voted for him, you got him...
« Reply #50 on: 12 March, 2009, 01:36:20 pm »

If it's not a war, why is it that motorists' time is costed in cost/benefit analysis and pedestrians' time is not AFAIK?

That sort of thinking akes me want to FIGHT!

Arrrgggh!!!  Yes exactly!
Your Royal Charles are belong to us.

Re: You voted for him, you got him...
« Reply #51 on: 12 March, 2009, 02:39:16 pm »
They have the countdown timers in Las Vegas, but not many pedestrians. I think there could be a use for them on Oxford st and outside stations where there are high volumes of pedestrians, but not helpful at all anywhere else, putting pedestrians under pressure to speed up, when it may not be possible. :-\
Quote from: Kim
^ This woman knows what she's talking about.

Re: You voted for him, you got him...
« Reply #52 on: 12 March, 2009, 03:02:56 pm »
Perhaps we should reduce the time for pedestrians to 5 secs.  Traffic flow would be increased leading to lower transport costs. It would be an advantage to all the fat B*st*rds who need to loose weight. The old and infirm would get squished leading to the survival of only the fittest. Costs to the NHS would be reduced - a double wammy!

Re: You voted for him, you got him...
« Reply #53 on: 12 March, 2009, 03:03:40 pm »
Not sure I should have posted that, but it's too late now.

Re: You voted for him, you got him...
« Reply #54 on: 12 March, 2009, 03:18:23 pm »
BornAgainCyclist, we get your point.
This attitude of "survival of the fittest" on our city streets is despicable.

One curious aside - not the recent advert for touch-cards for paying for things. The one with the bloke on crutches who swings past the newsagents, then ends up on a skateboard. You note what's missing - the streets are completely car-free.

ps. I down and drive a car - just commenting that the advertisers chose not to have lines of cars in the street, so advert chappie could swing down the street freely.

Re: You voted for him, you got him...
« Reply #55 on: 12 March, 2009, 03:57:46 pm »
countdown timers work well all over the US. IMO, right turns on red (or left turns on red, for the UK/Ireland) work best if the streets cross at right angles.

Re: You voted for him, you got him...
« Reply #56 on: 13 March, 2009, 08:29:25 am »
Boris Johnson is on Vanessa Feltz's show on Radio London from 9am.
You can phone in if you like! BBC - London - London Homepage

Re: You voted for him, you got him...
« Reply #57 on: 13 March, 2009, 02:07:39 pm »
Urrrgh, the thought of talking to either of them turns my stomach.

Re: You voted for him, you got him...
« Reply #58 on: 13 March, 2009, 03:25:51 pm »
Urrrgh, the thought of talking to either of them turns my stomach.

Ah yes, but the thought of them talking to each other while you are doing something else.
[Quote/]Adrian, you're living proof that bandwidth is far too cheap.[/Quote]

clarion

  • Tyke
Re: You voted for him, you got him...
« Reply #59 on: 13 March, 2009, 03:26:59 pm »
You mean they were in the same place at the same time, and no one took the opportunity to improve humanity!
Getting there...

Snugsy

Re: You voted for him, you got him...
« Reply #60 on: 17 March, 2009, 06:04:02 pm »


For example why have a four-way intersection come to a total stop so that pedestrians can cross in any direction. Why not have pedestrians able to cross parallel to the traffic flow, and any car-drivers turning should give way to them.


Oi! Ever tried getting anywhere on foot in Central London in the evenings? You spend ages hanging around waiting for the green man, and then it usually only allows you to get to the refuge in the middle of the road, where you have to hang around again for another light to change. I've missed buses and trains because of this.

And why don't pedestrian lights change as soon as you push the button? Why do you have to wait for several dozen cars to pass first?

And come to think of it, WTF is it the pedestrians who have to push a button and not the drivers?

I've always held that at any light-controlled road junction, all the pedestrian lights should stay green long enough for a 90-year-old granny with a zimmer frame to get all the way round the junction. After all, we'll all be 90-year-olds one day, with any luck.

PS I voted for Ken, of course, as did most Central Londoners. It's the suburbans who never use public transport that voted Boris - the same people who wrecked Ken's Fare's Fair campaign years ago. Not voting Tory is part of my non-religion, like not crossing picket lines.

Snugsy

Re: You voted for him, you got him...
« Reply #61 on: 17 March, 2009, 06:09:35 pm »
It would be easier and safer if they stopped all the traffic on the junction and let the pedestrians cross corner to corner, since that's where most of them seem to want to go anyway.

In Japan (and at one junction in London), you can cross both corner-to-corner and side-to-side.

Re: You voted for him, you got him...
« Reply #62 on: 17 March, 2009, 06:37:32 pm »
It would be easier and safer if they stopped all the traffic on the junction and let the pedestrians cross corner to corner, since that's where most of them seem to want to go anyway.

In Japan (and at one junction in London), you can cross both corner-to-corner and side-to-side.

Actually, quite a lot in London allow this.  This one in Balham is one that comes to mind, and it's particularly clearly marked on the road.  I've seen others.
Actually, it is rocket science.
 

clarion

  • Tyke
Re: You voted for him, you got him...
« Reply #63 on: 18 March, 2009, 08:50:00 am »
There's another on Queenstown Road in Battersea.  Very sensible in my view, and don't make the pedestrian feel like too much of a second class citizen.

Shame that we can identify where those very few sites are.  Should be much more common - standard practice, in fact.

I have often wondered how it would be if it were motorists who had to stop at conflict points with pedestrians, push a button, and wait for the lights to change... :demon:
Getting there...

ChrisO

Re: You voted for him, you got him...
« Reply #64 on: 18 March, 2009, 10:59:43 am »


For example why have a four-way intersection come to a total stop so that pedestrians can cross in any direction. Why not have pedestrians able to cross parallel to the traffic flow, and any car-drivers turning should give way to them.


Oi! Ever tried getting anywhere on foot in Central London in the evenings? You spend ages hanging around waiting for the green man, and then it usually only allows you to get to the refuge in the middle of the road, where you have to hang around again for another light to change. I've missed buses and trains because of this.

And why don't pedestrian lights change as soon as you push the button? Why do you have to wait for several dozen cars to pass first?

And come to think of it, WTF is it the pedestrians who have to push a button and not the drivers?

I've always held that at any light-controlled road junction, all the pedestrian lights should stay green long enough for a 90-year-old granny with a zimmer frame to get all the way round the junction. After all, we'll all be 90-year-olds one day, with any luck.

PS I voted for Ken, of course, as did most Central Londoners. It's the suburbans who never use public transport that voted Boris - the same people who wrecked Ken's Fare's Fair campaign years ago. Not voting Tory is part of my non-religion, like not crossing picket lines.

Oi yourself. Actually if you stopped to think about it you would realise that allowing pedestrians to cross parallel to the traffic flow would not in any way reduce the amount of time available to them.

In fact it would probably give them more time because they would have the same length of time as the cars flowing through, minus some warning and clearing  time at the end. On particularly busy turns at certain intersections it might be necessary to have pedestrians cross when the lights are against the turning cars but that would be no worse than the current situation.

I take the point that it doesn't work particularly well in the few places it exists at the moment but I suspect that is because it is the exception rather than the rule. As with left-turn-on-red-after-stopping it works OK in countries and cities where it is the norm and drivers know that when turning they have to look for pedestrians and give them priority.

I see it as another way of encouraging motorists to realise they do share the road. Having lights where only pedestrians can cross and cars have to stop is reinforcing the message that the roads are for cars and others are allowed on under certain controlled conditions.

P.S. Although I am now out of the country more than in it I do live in a central London borough, use public transport and cycle into central London when I am back and I voted for Boris. Sorry to disturb your stereotype. Sadly you forgot to mention the Daily Mail which of course I buy two copies of every day, one to read and one to w*nk over as I worship a picture of Margaret Thatcher eating a coal-miner's baby.