I have no numbers for the amount of cyclists killed in traffic on Manhattan, but I imagine grim statistics. At least, when considering how the few cyclists that are, bob and weave in-between, and against, traffic, without so much as a care.
Now this might simply be that my coolheaded Scandinavian take on how the layers of traffic should flow, simply isn’t capable of grokking the Manhattan spirit (if in doubt, honk).
Well, now it seems New York is getting help from a Danish advisor, on how to adapt the big apple to make it cyclist friendly:
This summer, Jan Gehl, the 71-year-old Danish traffic-curbing guru, took NYC planning chief Amanda Burden and transportation czar Janette Sadik-Khan on a bike trip around Copenhagen to show them what could be done for New York. #
Copenhagen is far from perfect in that area, and both pedestrians, cyclists and drivers think they own the infrastructure, but I do think the world, as I’ve seen it in my travels, can pick up a few things about modern traffic from us.
Denmark on the other hand could definitely learn a thing or two as well. Whether or not it’s legal in New York to cross over pedestrian crossings when there’s a red light, I don’t know, but if one guy decides that he can make it across before the next wad of cars, the entire group waiting to cross starts walking. It must be a nightmare for the drivers. In Scotland, the balance, as I remember it, seems to have been struck quite nicely. You cross for red, but not to the detriment of vehicular traffic.
In Denmark of course, and the rest of Scandinavia I gather, you don’t. Ever. Because we’re law abiding, if anything.
For cars, the entirety of drivers-license-wielding Danes would do well to spend a year or so driving on the streets of Paris. I have never seen traffic that smooth. The merging. Oh dear Zod; the merging! It’s like poetry in motion. Try merging like that in Denmark, and you’re likely to get your ass kicked.
Strange, isn’t it, how different the same systems can be, simply because of them having grown separately.
Hi,
I’ve discovered this blog for a moment now (excuse my accent, I’m a French who is learning English ;) ).
I’ve smile a little at the end of this article, when you are talking about Paris. I remember when I spend a week in our capital-city… The main think is “If you don’t cross, you will never cross… so cross… now!”. And for the car driver, I think that red lights are just decorations… they should not learn the same highways codes as the others :)
Fortunatly, we don’t do so much that in province. For example, I’m living in a provincial town and I goes every day (since two years) in my HighSchool with my bike and I’ve never had any problem…
enfin bref (I don’t know how to translate this, sry). It was just for saying that you’re quiet right saying “It smooth” talking about Paris trafic :)
Coming from the land of fjords, mountains and midnight sun (Norway that is) I gotta disagree with you a little bit when it comes to Scandinavian similarities regarding ‘jaywalking’ or whatever they call it. In Oslo most people just ignore the red lights for pedestrians if there are no cars in sight, and make hast over to the other side. In sharp contrast to that you have Copenhagen, which I really love and have visited plenty of times, where, as you pointed out, everybody waits patiently for the green light. Though our countries are quite similar, the myriad of small differences in the Scandinavian countries never fails to amaze me!
And talk about Paris, I absolutely LOVE to drive my own car there, it is tons of fun and actually quite easy. The merging is top notch, and I totally agree with you in terms of Scandinavian drivers taking a crash course (no pun intended) in Parisian driving style. Should be mandatory.
And I gotta say it again, you run a very good blog!
Be good!
/b.
I think a lot of this comes down to whether jaywalking is illegal or not. In the USA, it is, whereas in Britain, it isn’t. People can cross the road in any which way they like without fear of being arrested.
I’m planning a trip to Copenhagen at the moment. I look forward to being able to observe such cultural differences for myself.
This article may be of interest. It definitely backs up the logic of safety in numbers.
http://www.tsc.berkeley.edu/newsletter/Spring04/JacobsenPaper.pdf
Definitely a good read. It’s motivation for cyclists to get out more and USE their streets.
When last I was in NYC, I watched from a street corner as a pedestrian got sideswiped by a LandRover. Talk about a Dane Cook moment. I’m not sure if I should be worried about pedestrian right-of-way or the ridiculous size of the cars people drive. I doubt the driver would have even noticed if the woman hadn’t literally flopped onto his windshield. At least she survived (as far as I could tell). I spent the rest of the day on the subways and avoiding intersections.
That same guy is planning work on Sydney Australia too
I have to agree that traffic in France, and Paris in particular, is poetic, beautiful and very fun.
Slightly related to this is a really old piece I wrote: Copenhagen Cycling Culture
I remember when I was in Paris on holiday some time ago, I was amazed at how cars would merge with the traffic at a roundabout (I think it was at the Arc de Triomphe) seamlessly without traffic lights. Here in London, the major road leading to my area only has one lane open to regular traffic. Says something about London’s road network.
thank god i dont live in a major city.. because the way the kids cycle around here.. they wouldnt last very long…
Yeah? Well it ain’t nothin’ ‘till you’ve cycled in Japan where all the streets have no names, traffic hurtles itself down twisting winding roads, two lane streets are a car width and a half, traffic stops wherever it pleases even when its illegal to do so… and the list goes on.
well… NY just got owned by Japan! :P
I interviewed Jan Gehl at the first Walk21 conference in London a few years ago. You can see it on Episode 44 of “Perils For Pedestrians” on Google Video at:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2755806460769521444