A Walking City
Boston is a walking city… or so they say. And sometimes I try to walk places. But when you’re on foot, Boston is more of a waiting city…
We don’t want car traffic to get backed up do we?
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Just like Ben, I bike most places. Boston does get crowded with pedestrians during certain times of the day/week. I do a little bit of walking and I have a little bit of experience driving in Boston but I try to avoid driving. I personally think that pedestrians have to wait a longer time for a walk signal than cars have to waiting for a green light. This city has been made more convenient for people who get around by driving than by anyone who gets around by any sort of non-motorized transportation.
It is weird. Most of the roads and blocks were designed for horse and buggy transportation and has had a lot of trouble adapting to the automobile. That is why we have so many one way streets in Boston. Now that there is not only an increase in bike transportation but walking transportation as well it is like the city has make a big change all over again.
I’m not from Boston, but enjoy visiting – one of my favorite cities. It is evident to me when I visit that in fact Boston’s traffic woes are really all because of one demon – the automobile. Boston, more than almost any other city, is a place that is not designed for automobiles; it suffers greatly by trying to accommodate them. (Case in point: Casey Overpass debacle.) Imagine a Boston in which automobiles are banned inside the 128: an attractive, cozy, and more user-friendly city. Wouldn’t even need those failed pedestrian signals! But then, just another of my impossible “bike dreams” – sigh!
I agree that Boston would benefit from a London-style tax on city center car traffic, but you’re only going to lose potential allies by suggesting that 128 be the dividing line! Although, it might lower home prices on some nice bikeable territory…
How about inside Route 60 instead?
I visited Boston (from Toronto) last fall, and do I ever agree with this comic. Some things you missed:
– No pedestrian crossing light unless you push a button, almost ever
– Pushbuttons attached in convenient-to-electricians places (like behind a post 5′ from the crosswalk)
– Even working pushbuttons take 3-4 minutes to change lights, no matter how long cars have had right of way
– Light cycles too short for elderly/unfit people to cross
– Curvy on/off ramps chopping up pedestrian crossings into 3-corner detours
– No ‘buffer zone’ between yellow light (cars finishing left turns) and green light (oncoming traffic).
How much of this is Federal, and how much just Boston?
Out here in Suburbia, for decades the focus has been on improving traffic flow and getting cars through town as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Just now they’re starting to realize that just pushing those cars THROUGH downtown means nobody’s stopping to shop or eat downtown, and all these Main Street businesses have been suffering for it.
Sao Paulo, in Brazil, is just like that… BUT WORST!