Boing Boing has a little post about a traffic engineer famed for his work in Drachten, The Netherlands, in which he successfully pushed to have all traffic signals and signage removed from the center of the city. This idea has been copied elsewhere, and in some places the philosophy has been extended to also integrating pedestrian space with the automobile carriageway, creating what is referred to as a shared space or naked street. The result is an alleged decrease in travel times and better safety, because drivers are forced to pay attention.

I find the concept interesting, but perhaps much less practical in a large city. On a certain level, however, it can be seen as mainly a scheme to reduce both car usage and travel speeds, which it does well. This is a laudable goal, but one which seems to go against everything current North American planning stands for (that is, accommodating as many cars as possible, as quickly as possible, while ignoring pedestrians and cyclists).

New Urbanists have been singing the tune of slower cars for years, and haven’t made any noticeable headway. The fundamental nature of American cities, and the attitudes of those who inhabit them, would need to change before this became even remotely possible on this side of the ocean on any kind of scale.

Tags: Transport, Urban