New NJB: Induced Demand

Thanks for the link! RM Transit is probably the best creator out there when it comes to public transit. And he's becoming the defacto co-host of the Urbanist Agenda podcast, too! I will definitely get to Bergen some day. Not sure when though. I was last in Norway a few weeks before the LRT opened. I am now curious to see the "Pickle PSA" 😂

Not Just Bikes

For those of us who want more content from Norway, I recently came across this video about Bergen, primarily the city's light rail network. It goes into detail about the lines themselves, the accessibility of the whole system (level boarding, etc.), and even how the platforms have so much thought put into how they look, and how they are easily recognizable even at great distance. He also sings the praises of all the tunnels, but I actually wish he would've also covered how there was (and is) a conscious decision to let the LRT be in daylight rather than tunnels as much as possible, to entice ridership, make travel more enjoyable, and (especially with future developments) replace roads with more people-friendly spaces shared by pedestrians, bike riders, and light rail cars. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bs-T7bv6qTk If you (Jason) ever visit Bergen, though, you have to cover the on-board Bybanen pickle PSA. I always wonder what tourists, exchange students, and other foreign visitors make of that video. It goes like this: A man walks onto the light rail and takes a seat next to a young woman with a chihahua. In a puff of green smoke, he turns into an angry pickle. The pickle-man snarls and casts menacing looks around the light rail car as the chihahua looks on apprehensively. End PSA. It's glorious.

Øyvind Wallentinsen

Despite those lessons however they actually performed the experiment to prepare for widening the road from a 2+1 road to a 2+2 motorway.

Malthe Høj-Sunesen

Hey, so, I just read that in Denmark there was an experiment on whether fewer lanes would lead to better traffic flow. Turns out, it does! Or did, for the 14 days the experiment lasted. Sources are in Danish at https://www.berlingske.dk/samfund/glider-trafikken-hurtigere-ved-et-eller-to-spor-nyt-forsoeg-viser and https://api.vejdirektoratet.dk/sites/default/files/2024-01/Resultater%20fra%20fors%C3%B8g%20p%C3%A5%202%2B1%20vej%20%28Hiller%C3%B8dmotorvejens%20forl%C3%A6ngelse%29.pdf. But in short, turning a 2+1 road into a 1+1 road increase flow and at higher flows increase average speed, makes the speed more consistent and reduce risk of "gridlock". Lower flows reduce average speed.

Malthe Høj-Sunesen

This one is even more relevant: https://youtu.be/Ds-v2-qyCc8

Not Just Bikes

Another great video! I've seen Build the Lanes! He's got some good stuff and his explainer on the reasons why the Dutch are able to build their roads and infrastructure is fantastic. Given our craptastic politics here in the US, I'm not terribly optimistic about our future prospects for reversing the "one more lane bro" mindset. That Upton Sinclair quote is one I've been familiar with for years and explains so much of what's wrong. Like, it's not just Traffic Engineers, but politicians too. They are bribed...paid...donated lots of money from major builders, developers, and land speculators to maintain the status quo, which I think is a significant factor in why the recent "wakening" to Urban Planning in the US & Canada has not moved the needle. Probably won't if our protest strategy continues to be "chant, be polite, and beg harder!" Here in California, where I live, everyone is celebrating that mixed use and "missing middle" housing is starting to be built. But I'm sitting here like "but everyone still drives? Don't you think that is going to be a problem when more and more people are coming and going from the same locations?!" Because there are no viable alternatives to driving! Our buses all get stuck in the same traffic as cars, our LRT is pretty small and doesn't go to very many places, a 4 mile extension took 20 years from concept to fare service, and really should be a metro, and our bike network is inadequate, incomplete, takes just as long to build as the LRT, and their idea of separation is plastic sticks. It's just more of the same: bad land use planning with no signs of it being fixed, at all, ever. "Oh, but you see, we have a plan!" Well what good will that do if it takes literal decades to finish even a fraction of it?! Edit: Added content. Keep forgetting about "shift-enter" when using a browser.

Jeff Doll

I have to send this to the Winnipeg’s City Council. They are planning on expanding Kenaston Boulevard at a mere 250 million 🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️