Using duct tape to solve traffic problems


Carla Sinclair highlights how some people in the Dutch town of Nijmegen, who happened to be behavioral change experts, noticed a problem at an intersection where bicyclists who were turning right were being crowded off to the side due to congestion. So they took matters into their own hands and used duct tape to create separate lanes to nudge the cyclists into different lanes leading to much smoother flow.

Though crude, it worked and the city is now going to make the lanes official. What struck me was that there seem to a lot of cyclists and that they are pretty law abiding folk.

Comments

  1. says

    Where cyclists are just ordinary people going about their daily travel, they unsurprisingly behave mostly like ordinary people. No doubt their population includes a percentage of badly behaving cyclists, it’s just that they are a minority as severe risk taking is not required to get about.

  2. starskeptic says

    Something is definitely missing -- like anyone complaining about how this will destroy freedom…and civilization with it!

  3. John Morales says

    [Opaque to non-residents, sorry]

    Lofty, back in the day I used to live in Blackwood and work in Mitcham, and I would bicycle along Belair Road, often beating the rush-hour traffic. These days, I would not even slightly consider it so doing (and not because my legs aren’t as muscular! 😉 ).

    (Bike-friendly, we’re not)

  4. mnb0 says

    “they are pretty law abiding folk”
    Not really, as already is clear from the first part of that Nijmegian video. And what the girls did was illegal.
    Another example:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQdwlNkirKg

    What we Dutch (not only cyclists, also car drivers and pedestrians) are very good at (compared to other countries I have visited) is anticipating. That’s a win-win. Traffic becomes safer and flows more smoothly. If that means violating law most Dutch don’t hesitate a split second.

  5. EigenSprocketUK says

    mnb0: I often watch videos with the sound off, and get the general gist. The video you found was… absolutely tripping, man. I think I correctly guessed 2 of the image sequences.
    When I eventually watched it again with sound, the premise and purpose became clear. The words made good sense. But I shake my head at the muddled imagery and pointless soundtrack.

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