Improving road conditions

[West]

The best thing that I can think of where I live (Atlanta) is to make a mandatory drivers school. Not a racing school or anything, just a defensive driving course that teaches you the basics of how to drive a car. Through all kinds of conditions and have a VERY strict testing system. Hell, I probably shouldn't have a license, but I have racing experience so I think highly of my driving skills. Ego I know. Someone mentioned that, I definitely guilty of everything I gripe about, but I do it alot less than others.

Hey West. Question. Have you gone down to Qualcomm and raced there? I heard the parking lot drags are alot of fun, and you can run anything out there. I never went because my truck is no sports car, but it is just fast enough to be dangerous!

No I don't run there, but I've heard of the program. It's called Race Legal I believe. They need some serious funding this year; about 100 grand, and they're cutting down the number of events. I haven't had the time or money to start running my car. Once I get a new job (hopefully a decent-paying one) I might start tracking my car. Until then I have to baby it - got no money for parts or repairs or even gas.

When I was in high school I used to go around the county just to find the midnight illegal drags (before they sanctioned legal events) but I never participated. It was pretty much Civic nation whenever a race was ran.

I have however done the Jim Hall sprint Kart class, day one (August 2005), and I beat everybody in terms of lap time (officially; my friend had a time a few tenths faster but they didn't record it). They said we were top 15 percentile of all grads - pretty good considering my racing experience was pretty much Gran Tourismo, and we all know how realistic that game is. After a few runs at shifter karts, I have pretty good experience with car physics; not enough to be competitive but probably a lot better than the average driver. Knowing that, I feel I don't have to be a yutz on the highway or on the street. Unfortunately, I stopped karting almost a year ago.

[Ray]

Hey West, if you ever get a chance you should check out Miramar Speed Circuit. It right off of Miramar road going towards the 805 and La Jolla, closer to the 15 and Pomerado road. It's kinda tucked back in off of Cabot Dr. It's on the right hand side. The karts there aren't real fast, but they are really fun to ride. My best lap around their track was a 35.4 The track record is a 33.9 I think, but that was some Asian 11 yr old kid, but he was fast. I'm 6 foot 200 lbs, so I'm not gonna make a 33anything. You should check it out if you get the chance, they have a tracking system with you avg lap speed and time. It's expensive though, but alot of fun.

[f1.redbaron]

Ciro, amazing post! I really enjoyed reading it!

Without getting too personal, one question...have you had any hand in this? (I remember reading that you were working on improving the safety on the highways)?

[West]

Hey West, if you ever get a chance you should check out Miramar Speed Circuit. It right off of Miramar road going towards the 805 and La Jolla, closer to the 15 and Pomerado road. It's kinda tucked back in off of Cabot Dr. It's on the right hand side. The karts there aren't real fast, but they are really fun to ride. My best lap around their track was a 35.4 The track record is a 33.9 I think, but that was some Asian 11 yr old kid, but he was fast. I'm 6 foot 200 lbs, so I'm not gonna make a 33anything. You should check it out if you get the chance, they have a tracking system with you avg lap speed and time. It's expensive though, but alot of fun.

I used to go there. My best time was a 34.7 on the old course, back when I was 10 - 15 lbs heavier (I'm around 160 now, thanks to kickboxing). I haven't been there in almost 2 years - 25 bucks is a lot for 12 minutes of fun. That and I got sick of the slow people who try to block you for no reason at all. I've been to K1 in Carlsbad as well, which is a bit nicer.

I don't go anymore cuz they're too expensive. And I'm too used to driving my friend's shifter kart. I've shifted my interest towards kickboxing/Brazilian Jiu Jitsu these days.

[Tom]

Get a load of this guy, his name is Mark Rutherford and he calls himself a 'pro-car activist' which is surely just his excuse for being a half-wit jackass.
http://motoring.aol.co.uk/whatcha-gonna ... 5709990006
He's basically telling us that we should all use public transport for one day because the huge workload would bring the government to their knees, allowing the car more freedom, he sounds to me like the kind of person who really needs a non-car related hobby as reading his previous articles (pro boyracer, drive instead of walk, public transport is the enemy, the government are always trying to screw us over etc...) it sounds like he spends most of his time with his co** up an exhaust pipe.

[Ciro Pabón]

Here is my promised (long) second post about improving roads.

@Carlos: I will be here to welcome you. Anyway, even if Transmilenio is the finest bus system in the world (which I doubt) you should ride it during the peak hour: you'll agree quickly that is even better to use your BMW or Mercedes...

@f1.redbaron: thanks. Yes, I worked on some research, so my opinion is biased...

@Tom: well, Bogotá won the Stockholm Challenge Prize for Environment in June 2000, for the first large scale "Day without Cars" held on a Thursday, not on a weekend. It is feasible, civilization won't collapse: it's like Y2K fears. People here even voted to have one every year.

Mayor of Bogotá and Dutch Ambassador negotiate their way during "Day without Cars". The Ambassador has "Foreign Service Flags" on his bike .


Anyway, let's continue with the promised second part of my post:

2. Attack the traffic jam itself.

You can do a couple of things about it. I can think of four measures. The things you can do are cheap and fast, but you will get some riots and a lot of political "flak":

- Restrict traffic during peak hour
- React quickly when incidents occur and clamp down accidents causes
- Don't allow traffic jams to occur in public transportation and give it priority on right of pass

The first option, restrict traffic during peak hour is a "political heavyweight". Does not work if you don't have a decent alternative to cars. Bogotá has a simple, democratic system: from 5 am to 9 am and from 4 pm to 7 pm you cannot use your car if your license plate ends in:

Code: Select all

Day       Ending plate number
Monday     5-6-7-8
Tuesday    9-0-1-2
Wednesday  3-4-5-6
Thursday   7-8-9-0
Friday     1-2-3-4

The second option proposed is to react quickly when accidents occur. You need a number devoted to traffic incidents, like 911, accessible by cell phone and train the police officers that use motorcycles to reach the point of the accident. I believe it's more important to control the public works, demanding at each one of them a "traffic management plan".

Third stage of a traffic management plan


Then, you can diminish number of accidents improving the geometry of the road and controlling speed. We have what tomislav proposes: the rural buses and trucks have, by law, a tachograph or a GPS connected to a cellphone to control deliveries (FedEx style).

Digital tachograph. Mandatory for public transportation vehicles only.
[img::]http://z.about.com/d/german/1/0/I/I/tachoVDOlg.jpg[/img]

I agree with West and Ray about public racetracks as a way to build a space for people to go fast. In neighborhoods you can use the "traffic calming" approach.

Finally, it is important to make public transportation your priority. For example, I always liked to look at traffic jams from the marvelous Metro system in Washington and I enjoy the same sight in Transmilenio every day: during peak hour, the metro/bus goes almost twice as fast as the cars.

Please, don't take me wrong. Cars are a part of my life, I love them, simply I don't use them when I don't need them: for example, to go into the traffic jam I know there is every morning from 7 to 10 on the highway near my house.

[Ray]

The second option proposed is to react quickly when accidents occur. You need a number devoted to traffic incidents, like 911, accessible by cell phone and train the police officers that use motorcycles to reach the point of the accident. I believe it's more important to control the public works, demanding at each one of them a "traffic management plan".

I don't know if this is what you meant Ciro, but we have a thing called H.E.R.O. units here in Atlanta 'patrolling' the interstates. H.E.R.O. stands for Highway Emergency Response Operators. Their sole purpose is to drive around I-285 (it completely circles Atlanta),I-75, I-85, and GA-400, to help clear accidents to the side of the road so they don't clog up traffic. They do everything from changing a flat, giving you a few gallons of gas, or doing basic medical care for someone hurt, minor of course. But they are always there before the police and paramedics if a serious accident occurs. The only bad thing is people are hardheaded about giving them room to do their job. They are a godsend, but some of them have been killed by motorists who don't pay attention to where they are and end up hitting them. It's too bad that happens, they have saved so many people that could have been hurt by being in the middle of the road. My heart goes out to those guys for risking their necks in such a dangerous way.

[f1.redbaron]

@ Ciro: Amazing post, again.

About your previous post? What is the length of those lanes dedicated to the public transportation? Could you go from one end of the city to the other one (or close). The reason why I ask is because the city where I lived before (Ottawa, Canada), had something similar. You could go from N-S or E-W ends of the city in lanes dedicated to the public transportation (with the exception of about 2km section in downtown section). These lanes have no stops, no red lights, and virtually no limits. Getting from one end of the city to the other is really quick, even during peak hrs (where the buses run every 3 min - or at least they used to). Here is a map:

http://www.octranspo.com/mapscheds/Tran ... _menuE.htm

Then, their next step was to connect two sides of the city via light train. It was amazing (to improve the speed, and to make it easier for the students at Carleton University)




But Ottawa is different than Bogota. Ottawa has a population of only 1 million, while Bogota's is about 7-10 (right?), so it was much easier for them.

What do you think of "the Big Dig" - the underground hwy in Boston?