Seriously MBTA

Train on the Fitchburg line courtesy of mbta.com

Ok The T does a pretty good job considering what they are dealing with.  However, there are certain things that  just make me shake my head in wonder.
One would think that if shuttle service were running every weekend for 2 months it would be helpful for that information to be on the MBTA website and for it to be easy to find.  One would be very wrong.  I can sure as heck find out about elevator repairs but shuttle service which cause delays? nope nothing. (Try to find any information on this delay here, I dare you!)

I knew the weekend service on the Fitchburg line was suspended and shuttles running from all outlying stations to the South Acton station for continued rail service into Boston from an article I think on Universal Hub.  This was more than a month ago so I didn't remember the details.  When my girlfriend asked me about the shuttle service I thought it was still running but seemed to remember they were running trains as normal over Memorial Day weekend.

The reason for this is good, they are double tracking the line from South Acton all the way to the end to help speed up service and reduce/eliminate congestion.

I ended up being right, but it took two Google searches, plus fumbling around the MBTA site to find it.  Needless to say it was not on the T site but instead I found an article from Wicked Local Acton (division of the Boston Globe focused on communities) that talked about the closure and sure enough they were running trains as normal this weekend.

This service change was not just for one month, it was from April to June.  How can the MBTA in good faith not make this information available easily to riders.  It is not on the alert section for the rail line, all I get is Porter Square elevator work (important but not useful to me).

One of a myriad of examples of the T not doing the outreach and providing the information for train users that it very easily could be.  If folks show up to the station expecting a train at a certain time, and they don't see the signs for buses or shuttle what are they to think?  What if it was their first time using commuter rail?  Do you think they will try again?  No not likely.  Now the T just lost a customer all because of poor outreach and communication of major work closures.

To be fair this is an issue for the MBCR and not the MBTA proper but either way SOMEBODY should make sure the info is easy to find.  I shouldn't have to search so hard for it, at least I knew what I was looking for.

Lets do better MBTA.

Death of a Dover Citizen

In many cases I will say pedestrian or cyclist but usually when it comes to a death or injury I try to focus on the fact that they are a citizen, a resident, and mattered to somebody.  Using the the term "pedestrian" or "accident" removes the human element from the situation and everybody can feel better.  An accident is when a wheel comes off, or the brakes fail, or when somebody falls off the curb because of a misstep.  An accident is not when somebody is struck by somebody else and killed due to negligence on any one or both of the somebody's.  Today we have a case that is not an accident but most likely was due to a number of factors.

An older gentleman was struck and killed in a crash today in Dover.  He was killed by another older gentleman driving a pickup while he was attempting to cross the street. Article from Fosters Newspaper on the crash.

I must commend Fosters for not using the term "accident" because this was not an accident (unless it turns out the driver's brakes failed or the gentleman crossing tripped while trying to move out of the way of the truck).  The crash happened at this location:


View Larger Map

Approximately 42 Main Street.
I have created a location mock up in ArcGIS using 2010 1 foot imagery:

As you can see the likely spot of the crash is almost halfway between two crosswalks and is very close to one of the entrances to the older brick buildings in the lower left of the image.  As you can see from my road section mock up the parking area is to the left before the travel lanes.  My best guess based on risk and other typical crashes of this nature was the man killed was partially obscured by parked cars as he attempted to cross the street.

What you don't see here but you can see in Street View is what appears to be old crosswalk markings in the road that go from the building entrance/sidewalk on the left to the sidewalk on the right.  Take a look and tell me that they don't look like a faded crosswalk (which a large majority of crosswalks in Dover are).

In the above image I have marked the official crosswalk in white, but even these are faded and unless you noticed the pedestrian crossing sign you might not know they are there.

You may notice another issue with this road while looking at the cross section.  Look at those lane widths.  16 feet and 15 feet, wowe!  Those are typical widths on freeways with speeds over 50mph.  This is a downtown with an already too high 30mph speed limit that in this section most people exceed by 10+mph.  Also note from the Google Map above that this is a State road and thus even less likely that the speed limit would be reduced or road changes implemented.

Finally if you read the article the man crossing was an older gentleman at 77, however the driver was older still at 84.  Was age a factor?  I would bet so.

We have study after study that shows as drivers get older their reflexes and skills go down, in terms of crashes they are nearly on par with first time drivers.  Why are they still allowed to drive?  Why do we allow them to renew their licence as long as they can see/have a correct glasses prescription?  There is a heck of a lot more to driving than just if they have 20/20 vision.

However, we have built a system of communities that does not provide safe ways for older residents to get around with out a car.  If you live outside of the COAST bus service route you are pretty much out of luck.  Maybe you can walk somewhere, but that means your town has sidewalks by your house to wherever you want to go.  That is unfortunately highly unlikely (Dover does a reasonably good job though).  You have no choice but to continue driving if you want to maintain any sense of independence.  Many families will refuse to take the licence away from a grandparent for fear that that person will hate them or will be unable to go anywhere.  I don't blame them one bit, but what it means is we have older drivers on the road who do not have the ability to safely operate a motor vehicle at the speeds required in an urban/rural setting.

If we provided good bicycle paths, safe and complete sidewalks, and reasonably accessible transit I think many would feel more comfortable about giving up their drivers licence, because at least they still have options to get around.

The exact cause of course is still under investigation and we may never know but a combination of age of the  man driving and age of the victim, the width of the road, the speed limit of the road, the distance between crosswalks, old markings in the road, as well as potential shadow from the building all contributed to this man's untimely death.

You should not have to take your life in your (or somebody else's) hands if you wish to walk downtown.

There are solutions though!

• Reduce the road width.  Reduce each travel lane to 10 feet, use the additional 9 feet for a buffered bike lane (hey it could even by two-way) and curb bulb-outs (you can see a bulb-out in the lower crosswalk) or sidewalk expansion
• Remove a travel lane and reduce remaining lane to 10 feet.  Use space created to expand sidewalks on both sides, plant trees, and provide a buffered bike lane, along with curb bulb-out, and provide better transit stops
• Reduce speed to 15-20mph.  This is a downtown, not a freeway.  The goal in a downtown is to slow auto traffic down so people can park and visit shops safely without worrying if they will get run over by a semi doing 45.  This can be done by pavement changes, raised crossings, and will naturally happen if the lanes are narrowed.
• Better marking of pedestrian crossings.  It is not all about the drivers, sometimes a bit of signage in the form of bright white thermoplastic crossings can help folks walking find a safe crossing place.  Increase the number of crossings too.  People will not walk out of their way by very much before they jay-walk wherever they see fit, increase the crossings and this risk is reduced.
• Make drivers over 65/70 do a motor response test at various speeds in addition to eye tests and update on current laws.
• Restrictions on mobile devices through an engine lock type feature and/or hefty fines.
• Provide more rigorous drivers ed training with regard to interactions in the urban environment.  Looking at the red light/stop sign or for traffic in the other lane is not all that is required.  Bicyclists, kids, pedestrians, buses are all interacting in the urban environment.  Learners must interact with these things as part of their learning process.  The Dutch traffic gardens are a perfect example of this type of education.

With a little bit of work and dedication and perhaps even some push back against "the State DOT knows best" we can make our urban environments safer and prevent deaths like this from happening.

Condolences to his family.  His death should not have happened like this.

-John

Update on Dover Parking Meters

I figured it was time to do another update on my post from last year regarding the parking meters in downtown Dover.  (to see the original post Click Here) I created a Google Map of the meter locations last year.  It is now updated with new meters and locations.  The city did put together a map (caution PDF) which is what I used to place the markers.  It is however, hard to figure out specifics, especially if you are not a resident.  I figured a better map was in order.

(this map can be used as is or click below for a larger version in a new window.)

View Dover, NH Parking Meter Locations in a larger map

First, charging for parking is a great idea.  This is the public space (not the motorists space) and if you are using it for the storage of your private vehicle than the space is limited for other uses, and thus a price should be payed for that use.  One could argue that bicycles should pay too, however the amount of space a bicycle takes up vs the amount of space a car takes up makes that sound ridiculous.  A typical bike coral placed in a car parking spot can hold 12-16 bikes, that is 12-16 people (yes cyclists are people too!) vs the average of 1.8 people per car. (ok when was the last time you saw a 12 passenger van parked full of people?).  I understand the point and in The Netherlands a number of long term facilities charge for parking, but these are usually guarded and have bike shops on site.  Some places in the US charge for parking in bike lockers to recoup the high cost of installation, this makes sense.

None the less there are proper ways to charge for parking, ways that get community support and positive engagement.  Dover did not do it properly, and instead have dedicated revenue after meter infrastructure payments toward the building of a parking facility in the downtown.  This is to be fair, the most idiotic idea ever.  At $10,000-$20,000 per space (give or take) a parking structure is a colossal waste of money.  A good bike rack costs $120 and parks 2 people (bikes).  If you want to go crazy and install covered secured parking, the costs very but the Bike Hanger model from the Netherlands runs $5,000 and holds 5 bikes.   Even at $1,000 per space we are not coming anywhere close to the $10,000/space of an auto parking facility.

Due to the lack of proper engagement and proper revenue dedication, there has been some noisy push-back from some area residents.  Threats to never shop downtown again, to the downtown is a ghost town, to the city councilors being godless communists (ok ok they were not called that as far as I know).  That culminated on Wednesday night with a proposal from the youngest councilor on the removal of the meters.  He had "promised his constituents that he would bring it up for a vote."  Thankfully it was killed 8-1, but I doubt we will hear the end of it at least for a little while longer.

How could Dover have avoided this or partially avoided this?  I will take from Donald Shoup the renowned parking expert and professor at UCLA (speaking of godless communists...).  His idea is that in many places the market can handle a price for parking, but that the funds raised should not go toward general budget things or revenue for other projects.  It should instead go back to the neighborhood or district being tolled.  Ideally separated out by street.  It could go towards beautification projects like trees, benches, trash/recycling.  It could go toward street or sidewalk repairs and infrastructure improvements like lighting.  It could go toward small grants for business or home improvements that benefit the streetscape, like a new porch or new business awning.  It could also be used toward paying interest on or subsidizing low/no interest loans for business or home upgrades. For a video of Dr. Shoup talking about his ideas with the great folks at Streetfilms Click Here.  For another great video on parking from Streetfilms Click Here

Image from  theexpiredmeter.com

A number of communities have gone this route and if a town or city wanted to, I am sure with a bit of research they could figure out the legal requirements needed to be able to do that.

It makes more sense too.  When you use the revenue and invest back in that street or block you get support.  You get support because individuals can see the benefit and know that it is going right back into where they work or live.  When something is far off or nebulous you start to encourage the naysayers.  Once people start seeing the benefits (and it can be small at first, new flower pots or benches) they will support the project even more, that gives it a broad base of support within the community which allows it to expand to new areas and allows other residents to successfully counter the naysayers, instead of the city or planning department having to defend the initiative.

It is not too late for Dover, the council can shift where the funding will go (revenue is still being used to pay infrastructure installation and purchase costs).  It can work with the planning board and planning department to develop street zones for dispersal of revenue.  It can work with the Chamber of Commerce and local credit unions/banks to set up a loan or grant structure for businesses and residents.

This is seen as a negative by a number of vocal opponents, however it does not have to be.  I encourage Dover to do research and find some mechanisms that will work to the benefit of everybody, I don't know what that would look like but I can tell you a parking structure is not it.

MBTA Budget Calc! Not just for Boston residents

MBTA Green Line D-train Credit Adam E. Moreira Wikipedia Commons

For those of you who follow this blog in the Boston Metropolitan area (ok like maybe one of you, hi dear! (dear being my wonderful girlfriend))  This is of worthy note.

Actually now that I think about it, even if you don't follow in the Boston area this is of note.  Many transit agencies around the country are dealing with budget issues, many have suggested all-or-nothing far increases and service cuts which will impact thousands of those cities workers, poor disabled, students, not to mention tourists etc.

In that light, I present the recently released (as of this morning) MBTA Budget-O-Matic (thanks Universal Hub for the title)

Fix The T Budget Tool from MAPC

Fill it out!  Each option has a small description of what it means and you get to choose any combination of possibilities to help fix the issues with the T (many of which will help fix the longer term funding issue as well)  You can easily submit your proposal into the database at the end with an email address.  At which point you can see what choices every body else has been making.

I suggested something similar to my contact at the MBTA and MAPC(Metropolitan Area Planning Commission) in my position with the City of Cambridge.  I also passed my suggestion around the office.

 This was based on something I noted on some blog (maybe Bikeportland.org?) which showcased a tool used by Portland's TriMet agency (now closed but you can see the suggestions) to allow citizens deal with its budget issues.  The issues at TriMet were very different but the idea is the same. I would like to think that a very small part of the creation of this was as a result of my forwarding on the tool they used. (I can dream right?)

If your transit agency is dealing with issues (be you in Germany, Canada, US etc) pass this information along, get a local newspaper, popular blog, planning agency, or city to take up the issue and put together a tool like this that allows folks to make changes, rather than just complaining at a meeting.

Guerrillas in the City (no not those Gorillas)

Apologies for the long time between posts.  I have been busy as usual.  None the less I do hope to update more often and will be starting slowly with one or two posts a week and work forward from there.  Here is a great Friday article I came across earlier this week.

This comes from the folks at CityFabric (check out their cool city map based shirts!!!)

Image from newraleigh.com

These are simple way-finding signs placed in a couple neighborhoods in Raleigh North Carolina (a somewhat unlikely place you might think)

The effort was picked up by the Atlantic Cities and by the BBC but I have yet to see it come up on my blog feed (which is quite surprising!)

The BBC link has a video attached which is a nice combination with the print articles on this effort.

Read the newraleigh.com article here (or click the picture)

The Facebook page for this effort is here

This is exactly what we need in many communities; simple, stylish, and cheap.  It gets the point across and gives folks quick information in a way that they can understand.  (the little QR code links to a Google map with walking directions to whatever destination is mentioned on the sign)

No this is not a good long term solution but it was clearly enough to get the attention of the city and international media to such an extent that the city is now looking at making and expanding these signs (albeit in a more code compliant way).

There are quite a lot of people that want to help make their city or town better.  However, I feel that many local governments are stuck in a format of engagement that does not bring many people on-board with a program or truly allow good discussion.  Cities and communities need to work harder to identify needs and work with needs that the community has identified as well.  Our cities and towns can be stronger than they are now, and must be.  It is people power pure and simple, but it needs to be tapped properly.

Even the City of Cambridge, MA (where I work) can do a better job (actually they are doing a better job and are adopting some new outreach techniques I helped develop in the grant program I coordinate).

Lets have more guerrilla signs for walking, biking, transit.  More guerrilla gardening and knitting.  These things are helpful and make our community better.  They make us smile and think about what a great idea that is.  They may not be legal and may only last a couple weeks but sometimes that is enough.

Lets have more engagement with the community that we live in, sometimes it only takes one or two people to get the ball rolling.

Green Home Tourist

I got this link in my email last week. This is a nifty little resource for the folks in New England to find nearby homes or buildings that use various renewable technologies. This database is funded by RGGI (Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative), which in another note is barely surviving here in NH thanks to those in power in both houses.

Check out the database Here

Some more Butter

In a continuation of my butter making endeavor; I took some images while making some this evening.

Enjoy :)

Ingredients:

Brookford farm fresh raw cream*

Buttermilk is to the right, this batch was processed in a blender, and then hand mixed to butter with...

My trusty 1980's GE mixer made in the USA ($5 from the thrift store!). I really like this mixer, it is just strong enough that it mixes quickly, however it is also not too strong as to over mix the butter. With this mixer, it basically will stop mixing once the butter is formed; it is not quite strong enough to continue. There is a risk if the mixer is too strong, that the buttermilk can be mixed back in with the butter; which is not good.

Volia!

This butter is ~2 cups and will be used for cookies tomorrow night :)

*A note on the cream, because I was leaving for Spain after I bought 2 pints, and knew they would not keep, I froze it. Now the big tricks to freezing cream, I used a metal cooking pot (I don't like plastic) it is also easier to clean and holds firm in the freezer. Also make sure to unthaw in the refrigerator, and do not rush it. Two Pints took about 2 days to unthaw, and then I let it sit on the counter for thirty minutes or so. It appears goopy and thick when you take it out of the container to mix it, do not worry the cream has separated a bit and will be fine as either butter or whip cream.

Livable Manchester (NH)

I came across this site from some connections with Commute Green NH (facebook link). It is called LibableMHT and focuses on some thoughts and lessons which could make Manchester, NH a better community for all. I have not had too much time to browse the posts in depth, but they do have a nice potential streetcar setup which looks really spiffy for sure.

I encourage you to check them out, it is really nice to see something like this develop in good ol NH.

Website Link Here

Dover, NH Parking Meter Map

This is another one of my fun Google map projects.
I came across the new map of parking meters (or Kiosks really) from the parking bureau website. This is the map that they give to the public for folks to find the parking meters.(caution pdf)

First off, the city website is a mess, but that is beside the point, at least the information is there. (unlike the city of Plattsburgh site...).

Second, the map is actually oriented North (amazing right!) which is good, but there is no legend included that would tell a viewer the difference between black and red markers. (Actually it turns out the red markers are the recently launched, Jan 18th, and the black were ones already operating during the fall, I decided not to differentiate between them, once I know more of the planned expansion locations I will add them differently. Of course you had to click on the faq to find that, and see the original map with legend(pg2), which had a Western orientation...)

Thirdly, there is very little information on the businesses or other orientating information, other than road names, you are unable to move around and get your bearing if you are not a resident, and that is really the key point.

Now these are actually relatively minor issues compared to some maps I have seen (the ward map, a complete mess until you zoom way in; my version of it can be found Here); the kiosks are close enough together and visible enough that finding one on the ground should not pose a problem though.

(click through for Google maps link)

The point of the matter is though, that I created the above map using Google (Google Earth, and then uploaded to maps), it took about an hour to do it, including creating the custom marker icon, and now we have a map that is interactive, somebody can search for businesses, or figure out where they are, they can go into streetview and see what the area looks like (meters won't show up though, too recent) they can create trips and better plan for a visit to the city.

The map as the city created it is designed for residents (and even then it may be confusing). That is not a bad thing, but it could have easily been designed for anybody.

The city really needs to get its act in gear and start making use of Google maps and the huge potential that is being missed. The planning department uses Google maps to create maps of locations on their agenda for the next meeting, a very good and useful idea!
I think the city as a whole though can, and must do better!

Communities need to stop thinking like it's 1980, data is all stand-alone, and if somebody wants something they will call or go down to city hall to get it. There are so many more opportunities for the city to really sell its presence and what’s happening; online. These are fairly simple to implement and would go a long way toward providing accessibility to city resources and services.

Simply providing city resource maps through Google would be an enormous step.

Moving Forward

Rest assured I am still here and still working on the various projects I am pushing. My time is limited, and what I am not using in class or to push projects, is being used to keep up to date on the latest happenings in the transportation community, and looking for internships for early next year. I simply do not have the energy to keep up here while doing everything else, even if I actually do have the time.

I will post here every once in a bit, and I appreciate folks checking back in every once in awhile. If you do not yet follow me on some type of reader, Google or otherwise, I highly recommend that you do, that way you will know when I start posting again.

• Bicycle racks have been ordered and shipped, Phase one is moving forward quickly. Meeting with facilities to determine final location prep next week, a couple sites have already been picked out for a ceremonial install, the next step is planning for that event and making it big.

• On the death that happened the other week, prosecution seems limited, even though it was a hit and run and the driver ran a red light, he apparently did not see the cyclist. The cyclist was on the sidewalk through this intersection, no it is not illegal to be on the sidewalk in the town of Plattsburgh (that I know of). However, sidewalk riding is incredibly dangerous for all road users, and until we have proper bicycle roads along auto roads, it is still best to be in a lane. He was new here and did not know the area well, and it is hard to take a lane when you are surrounded by 6 lanes of traffic moving at high speed.

• The bike group on campus is working to advocate for a bike lane for the road, I am working to have them change the goal to be increased bicycle safety on the road, not advocating for a specific infrastructure fix. There really is no easy fix for this road, a bike lane or a separate bike road(cycletrack, bike path etc) will make it worse, there are simply too many driveway cuts.

• The Campus Facilities Master Plan comes out in November, and is in final stages now. I am involved with asking questions regarding bike and ped improvements for a couple of the planned streets through campus, they have not answered many questions, and there are potential problems with what they are advocating we create, especially if they are leaving it up to the planners here to figure out the specifics.

• Finally on to the posted image, it is a map I created that marks all the designated public park space in the city of Plattsburgh, combined with a two different distance buffers showing accessibility and distribution of parks. Overall Plattsburgh is doing pretty darn well, with full accessibility for the entire city within about 1/2mile of a park. It is not a perfect map, there is no scale and while North is "up" it is not designated as such, anyway.

For now that is all, stay tuned, I will update when I can, Jim is busy as well but might try to get some posts in, he has some topics in the wings.

An Update

I am sorry I have not been keeping up with this blog for the past couple of months. As I mentioned before I had two computer intensive jobs, which meant that I had enough of the computer, when I was home and didn't have the energy to update, as I should have. Nonetheless, I will continue to work to keep things up to date as best I can. I still have a backlog of some draft posts, and have been taking many new photos’ of infrastructure to add and discuss.

I have a number of classes this fall, including a new class in Urban Geography and Planning with a teacher who did most of her work in LA and is an active bicycle commuter. I also have the campus racks installation, for which I received money last year, and there is a semi-senior project involving designing a safe routes to school route for the city school district. It is enough to keep my busy for sure.

Oh, did I mention I graduate in December?

In the meantime, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy my posts and the work I try to put into them. If you are new, take a look back into the archives, lots of fun things there!

Thanks!

A Feed Update

To folks out there who follow my feed or would like to, I just started using google reader and realized on accident that only a partial feed was being shown. As far as I am concerned pictures are very important and if folks don't want them using the "list" option to collapse is just as useful. So I changed to a full feed, mostly because I think it is much more useful when I am reading other sites.

If you have thoughts please let me know

also I am unable to get a share this or "like" option on each post, I am not sure why, I will keep working to try and figure it out, sorry about that.

From, The Urbanophile on outsiders in a community

I was going through my draft posts the other day and came upon this article from April from The Urbanophile. The premise of the article is that outsiders, e.g. non-natives to a region or city, are key to that city surviving economic problems or other calamities. They help in driving the city toward positive change and make it better for everybody to live in. The conclusion was based on data from corporate problem solving studies that show that a group working independently on a problem will solve the problem slower, or not at all than a group where outside individuals are brought in part way through the process.

So extrapolated out, migration is key to societies survival as a whole and specifically in cities where outsiders can bring a new prospective to what is valuable in a community, what needs to be encouraged, and what needs to change.

It can be hard to understand where these "outsiders" are coming from but if we learn to embrace other migrants to our communities, we might just be able to overcome the looming problems over the next 100 years.

Check out the article at, The Urbanophile.

Canada on high-speed rail from NYC to Montreal

This is an article from the National Post on the Canadian take on high-speed rail from New York City up to Montreal. Plattsburgh features in it as one of the largest communities north of the capital district that would be on a direct line north, and there may be local support for such a project. It would still be problematic; the ADK Park would pose so many problems that it might be easier to divert the line through Burlington and up the Vermont coast. But getting high speed from Plattsburgh North and from Saratoga South as well as improving rail and signaling in the park could still make it viable and at least on par with a car trip if not preferable to flying.

Take a read over at the National Post

Via Infrastructurist

To Nantucket I go

Yep, I will be on an island for the next 3 ish days. I have a bunch of posts that are backing up here, seriously, you should see the draft page. I will be putting them in order shortly and getting them out, sorry for slacking so much, but my laptop is not on as much, and I am busy a lot with either garden work or MassBike work.

anyway I shall try not to neglect for too much more :)

have a good day and look for some infrastructure posts from the island very soon!

One Pot Pledge

Thanks to USDAgov photostream on flickr.

This is something I found a little while back and thought intriguing, its the One Pot Pledge. Its from the UK (if pot didn't give it away) with the goal of encouraging people to grow their own food who have never grown food before. It is also a way for experienced gardeners to help as well as generally interested people to show support for the campaign.

The campaign is run by Garden Organic, a UK charity.

This is specifically for the UK folks who read, however the idea is something that we can take over here and make work, although more likely on a local or regional scale. Whether it is is a vegetable pot on the windowsill, flowers outside your front door, or a full garden in the backyard, we can all do our part.

I felt the need to share!

cheers

SolarOnTheWhiteHouse.com

SolarOnTheWhiteHouse.com

This is a website and petition to ask Obama to support solar power on the White House. A solar company, Sungevity has actually offered an almost 18kw system for the White House, free of charge!

This is a win win for sure.
Only this time, make sure to weld them on so a future president cant take them off as easily...

Head on over to the site and sign the petition!

Streetfilms | Tom Vanderbilt Talks “Traffic”

Streetfilms | Tom Vanderbilt Talks “Traffic”

I am currently reading "Traffic" and enjoying it quite a bit, although unfortunately I seem to have left it about a month ago on a 7hr Greyhound bus ride from NYC after visiting my wonderful girlfriend in Spain.. BAH!! I need to buy another copy when at home I guess :P siiighhh

It is a wonderful read and I highly recommend it to anybody even remotely interested in traffic or human societies. Just head on down to your local book store and ask if they can get "Traffic", I bet you they might even have it in stock, its been very popular.

enjoy the film!!

A Friday Break

A note before you see this video, it is from a site with non work safe material, however this video is quite work safe. It is a prank involving an underground tunnel and a the entire junior class at this high school (where ever it is). I will let the video do the talking (or walking as it were) though...

There is sound but its not needed to appreciate the video.

As an end note, yes it disrupted traffic quite a bit, yes it caused cars and buses to idle more than needed, and I am sure caused delays for many people, but I still think it is quite brilliant of a prank, and very inventive. I am a pedestrian, I am traffic.