Notices by 𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇 (straphanger@urbanists.social), page 2

I promote pedal-powered parklets for people, not parking for petrol-powered Pontiacs and Porsches.

"A city is where people come to work, raise families, spend their money, walk in the evening. It is not a traffic corridor."

BIG NEWS: As of today, the maximum speed on the Périphérique, the orbital highway encircling #Paris, will be lowered from from 70 km/h (43 mph) to 50 km/h (31 mph).

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Love this!

The Bockenheimer Warte U-Bahn station entrance in #Frankfurt , Germany.

Enter the underground via a subterranean tram eruption.

NEW STUDY: Bicycle lanes calm traffic, make streets safer for everyone.

Presence of a separated bike lane decreases average maximum car/truck speeds by 28%, speed of cars making right turns by 21% ...

#Tokyo's Shinjuku station, world's busiest.
53 platforms.
200 exits.
3.59 million daily users .

Every day, as many people use this one station as ride the entire #NYC subway network, which counts 423 stations.

An X-ray cross-section (in ballpoint!) by Tomoyuki Tanaka:

If you really value your freedom, don’t drive a car!

When you think about it, the bicycle is the true choice of the independent and the free.

"Design your vehicles to fit your city—not the other way around."

Here's a tiny bus serving the narrow streets of #Rome's centro storico.

The concept applies to fire trucks + other service vehicles.

But is it true for transit?

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Small is often beautiful for fire trucks, like this one in #Tokyo :

In the 20th century, being "modern" meant bringing cars into the center of cities.

In the 21st century, it means keeping them out.
(Images: Grand Place, #Brussels.)

European cities used to be as car-clogged as those in America. Here's what changed:

https://www.politico.eu/article/europe-car-free-plaza-reclaim-former-glory-public-space-pollution/

You can drive in #Switzerland, sure. But if you want to get where you’re going on time, take public transport.

I rode the No. 6 trolley bus in #Lucerne, and made my appointment on time. If I’d been in a car, I’d still be waiting.

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The fact that the "Beg Button" exists in so many cities is messed up.

For the privilege of crossing the street, pedestrians are required to press a button, wait, and then scurry across while cars + trucks give them a few seconds of grace.

Here's one I'd press in a second...
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In a rightside-up world, it would be drivers—not pedestrians—who would have to press a beg button just to use the street.

[drawing by Dhiru Thadani]

The Dutch, naturally, have this sorted.

At this #Delft intersection, cyclists and pedestrians get a continuous green.

The arrival of a car or truck sets off a sensor, which allows it to cross. The default is green for humans, red for cars.

video by @modacitylife

The Kintetsu Railway, #Japan's oldest public funicular, started 1918. In Ikoma, a city between Osaka and Nara.

One car is called Mike the Cat. The other is Bull the Dog. When they pass one another...

"In a quality city, a person should be able to live their entire life without a car, and not feel deprived."

—Paul Bedford

More wisdom from Jan:

"#Copenhagen took away 3% of inner city parking every year. If you do it slowly enough, nobody notices."
—Jan Gehl, quoted in #Straphanger.
The Strøget, 1950s and today.

"Sometimes, a shop owner claims his business
was ruined because the city removed 4 parking spaces. With our surveys, our mayor can say: ‘6,000 more people
pass your shop a day thanks to a new bike lane. Are you sure you’re a good businessman?’”
— Jan Gehl, quoted in #Straphanger #Copenhagen

1. Pittsburgh streetcar map in 2D.
2. Pittsburgh streetcar map in 3D.

(#2 is a 1910 model, submitted to Mayor's office, showing the actual elevation of streetcar lines in #Pittsburgh, that city of inclines.)

1: #Tokyo metro map in 2D.
2: The same map in 3D.