Cities around the world that are reducing car access

I’ll cycle down Grafton Street if it’s quiet. And walk if it’s busy rather than weave around everyone. Same on all pedestrianised streets. It’s not complicated…..it’s just about not being a d1ck.

MJohnston

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119853306#Comment_119853306

I didn't say anyone would think cyclists are classed as pedestrians—I said that I think that most people would expect that bicycles could still go on pedestrianised streets.

Or to put it another way—I think most people would say that a pedestrianised street is one that has banned most motor vehicles (except delivery vans, sweepers, council vans, etc etc).

jackofalltrades

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119853436#Comment_119853436

I think most people would see a pedestrian street as being for pedestrians only, with exceptions for the type of vehicles you listed above.

As another poster said they're seen as big footpaths.

Seth Brundle

I hadn't realised until Ediz pointed it out for me that LTNs actually make streets more dangerous...

https://twitter.com/ediz1975/status/1590256611209011200

Citizen Six

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119856149#Comment_119856149

Technically it's the drivers that are the problem in that situation?

magicbastarder

I'm in Berlin at the moment. Great to see how a city should be run for transport. One thing which struck me is there seems to be a much better understanding of shared space. At some junctions we've seen in the city centre, there are no instructions for either motorists or pedestrians on how to navigate them and no one seems fussed. Down to a German sense of self reliance and responsibility, maybe?

Loads of shared scheme scooters scattered about - far too many from what we've seen.

Seth Brundle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119856166#Comment_119856166

I know. I was being sarcastic - I should have included this maybe 😏

cgcsb

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119856197#Comment_119856197

Maybe it's a Berlin thing. In Munich crossing a small street on a red man with not a car in sight gets you stares of contempt if not a fine.

magicbastarder

That's the thing - on pedestrian light controlled junctions, they're obeyed, but there are a lot of not insignificant junctions which have no lights and little signage and everyone just gets along.

E.g. this one (though the image is 14 years old)

83 Friedrichstraße

https://maps.app.goo.gl/hutRDizoest74a2C9

Citizen Six

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119856378#Comment_119856378

Are German's better at allowing other motorists to merge? It doesn't seem to work that well in Ireland I notice, and cars on the main/busier road will often block other cars trying to merge.

Grassey

Saw this earlier.

https://m.independent.ie/regionals/dublin/dublin-news/bus-drivers-forced-to-take-alternative-route-as-parked-cars-cause-rush-hour-chaos-42131029.html

'Something needs to be done'... but not sticking down double yellows to restrict parking and allow traffic to flow...

Citizen Six

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119857271#Comment_119857271

We still have a mentality that you should be allowed to park your car directly outside your house, no matter what.

My family used to live in London, and if they were lucky, they could park outside their house, but if someone else was in the spot they'd have to park on another street and walk the distance. That was just normal.

If a bus can't navigate the narrow road, then move the cars off it.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119856758#Comment_119856758

yeh, Irish drivers (well, Irish city drivers anyway) are particularly ignorant in this regard. Probably because they’re all so angry all the time.

Farcical situation this morning when I was cycling down the Coyningham road into town. The bus lane was backed up about 300-400m from Parkgate Street with stationary cars all wanting to turn left to get up onto the North Circular. The right hand car lane to go straight onto the quays by Heuston was literally empty for that entire distance (I was cycling in it). Buses of course had to sit in the stationary queue of cars in the bus lane, despite the empty lane beside them, by virtue of having to stop at bus stops every now and then.

The reality is that if any car drove to the point that you’re supposed to filter into the bus lane to turn left, no one would let them in. Same with buses.

I wish one day the Gardai would walk down that queue and ticket every single car.

Pete_Cavan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119857917#Comment_119857917

The thing that annoys me about Philipsburgh Ave is that most houses do have space which would mean the resident would be allowed to park ther car directly outside the house, no matter what. OK the middle section is very narrow but the houses at either end have space in front for a car off the road.

Citizen Six

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119858692#Comment_119858692

Yeah, but then again, a lot of people would rather store their car on public property, rather than their own private property.

Seth Brundle

Another bus making use of a cycle lane...

https://twitter.com/quentinheaney/status/1590981565831860225

MJohnston

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119858023#Comment_119858023

This is the kind of thing that can be somewhat solved by proper road design however. We've a similar mess down here in Deansgrange, on Kill Lane. Road planners of Ireland do not seem to care very much about their job.

loyatemu

bollards along the bus lane approaching junctions, you can't enter the bus lane to turn left until after the bollards. + automated camera enforcement on the buses. You drive in the bus lane, the bus takes a photo of your license plate and a fine is automatically sent, maybe penalty points for repeat offenders.

also, get the taxis out of the bus lanes!

Seth Brundle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119861807#Comment_119861807

Road planners of Ireland do not seem to care very much about their job.

I think it is more that their job traditionally has been to facilitate cars, etc. and everything else is ssecondary and designed as an afterthought. Their job is not to design cycle lanes, bus lanes or anything other than regular traffic lanes and this is why when they try and design anything other than a traffic lane, it's usually crap!

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119861909#Comment_119861909

No need for bollards at all. Just allow traffic to cross the bus lane at the junction (assuming the bus lane is empty). There is just no will to do any of this currently. If you look at the stretch of road heading past Dublin's Whitehall church towards town. Despite the bollards, the bus lane still gets clogged up with cars wanting to turn left. The bus lane should be 100% bus lane = all the way from start to finish. Allowing cars to queue in it at junctions just slows down the bus lane reducing the benefits of it simply to placate those who choose to drive. Plus, you then get the selfish (or stupid) drivers who think they can enter the bus lane before the bollards - this should incur double the number of points!

Citizen Six

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119862339#Comment_119862339

If it was bus lane all the way at that spot in Whitehall, cars would still block it, turning from the next lane over. They just just wouldn't think to leave it clear.

I was in Fairview just yesterday, and an ambulance was held up trying to turn up the Malahide road, due to the amount of cars entering the bus lane way too early.

Seth Brundle

Sorry, my points were kind of under the assumption that we would start actually policing bus lane usage along with the aforementioned "automated camera enforcement on the buses" - but were a few decades away from using that kind of technology here!

Citizen Six

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119862783#Comment_119862783

Yeah, a long way off camera tech being used here alright. It would be a huge revenue generator though, and that's what people seem to thinking speed vans and clampers are there for.

Not much tech needed for a Guard to walk up a bus lane every now and then ticketing everyone. In one trip would probably have ticketed 50+ cars treating the inbound Coyningham Road bus lane as a left filter

Would likely reduce the problem a little if drivers knew they’d a 1 in, say, 10 chance of getting ticketed rather than 1 in a million

Citizen Six

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119865122#Comment_119865122

Gardai are under staffed, so no one available to ticket those cars, unless the NTA pay for it.

cgcsb

Just give the NTA the power to send people to certain locations with the hi vis on, scan a few license plates and issue fines

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119868499#Comment_119868499

I just don’t understand why there is no appetite at all to do the very simple task of clearing bus lanes.

in other news, it’ll be interesting to see the impact of Extinction Rebellion starting to target Dublin roads (as reported in the Sunday Times today), like they’ve been doing in London. It’ll bring Dublin to an utter standstill

cgcsb

I think politicians are afraid that people getting fines will make them unpopular. There is a lot of entitlement in this country you can see that in fairview, 6 Lane road, legal parking all over the place and still cars horsed up on footpaths outside shops

magicbastarder

https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/dublin/2022/11/14/parliament-street-may-become-traffic-free-under-council-plans/

...

p_haugh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119871569#Comment_119871569

With the Winetavern street Contraflow bus lane now in place, theres no need for the "public transport only" option...

Also, it's only the 69 that still goes along Parliament street now (given the 79/a are now the GS/60 along the quays), and that only passes through once an hour

cgcsb

We'll only see real change when there's a car ban on Bachelors Walk and City Quay, that's how cars are using the city centre as a through route. That's what's really put the breaks on cars entering the city centre