David Zipper

This statement got me. How much of speeding / cut through traffic on residential streets is a result of Google Maps, Waze etc? Rather than place the burden on cities to install thousands of speed humps, diverters, bump outs etc - could ordinances require through traffic to be mapped to arterials?

All Hail the Humble Speed Hump These simple, cheap traffic-calming devices are both effective and wildly popular with (most) residents. Here’s why more cities are going all-in on speed humps.

A final thought:

Speed humps are so cheap that cities don't need federal $$ to install them. They're a great way to save urban lives and improve quality of life at a time when Trump's USDOT is offering negligible help.

Yes! Speed humps are less steep, so cars don't have to slow down as much as they would at a speed bump.

Speed bumps are used mainly in parking lots and other enclosed environments where cars are moving <10 mph. Speed humps can be used on local streets that are faster.

Hard to argue with this

It's Time for Some Cheap and Boring Transportation Solutions City leaders: Before buying a hyperloop, maybe fix your sidewalk?

Speed humps are a classic example of what I call “mundane mobility:” Street fixes that are cheap, effective, and relatively uncontroversial.

These little mounds of asphalt won't generate many headlines, but they're a vital tool in the battle for safe streets.

County leaders approve funding for speed cushions Speed cushions portable version of concrete speed bumps.

Speed humps can’t be placed everywhere. Emergency response slowdowns can be a particular concern on wider, faster streets.

A solution: Installing cutouts for wide-axled fire trucks (sometimes called "speed cushions").

Most residents love them.

Head of transport in Milwaukee: “Everybody starts a conversation about an unsafe road with, ‘Can we put a speed hump there?’"

(Note: It's not just about safety; some NIMBY-esque residents want to deter “outsiders" driving in from elsewhere.)

These little humps will reliably slow cars & reduce crashes.
- In Arlington, VA, they reduced speeding by 40%+ near schools
- In Detroit, streets w/speed humps had 14% fewer crashes than those without them

They’re effective abroad too, as in this study from South Korea:
doi.org/10.1016/j.js...

YouTube video by City of Boston Installing 1,500 Speed Humps Around Boston

Speed humps are easy to install (as shown in this short video from the city of Boston).

They cost around $5k a pop, which is basically nothing compared with other street adjustments.

Today, speed humps, bumps (steeper), tables (longer and flat-topped) are cornerstones of street safety around the world.

If you’re driving in Norway, be sure to brake before rolling over a fartshumper.

The speed hump’s origins are heroic.

It was the brainchild of Arthur Holly Compton, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist and a leader of the Manhattan Project.

After WWII, Compton led Washington University, where he devised a hump to slow fast drivers on campus.

www.caranddriver.com/features/a44...

All Hail the Humble Speed Hump These simple, cheap traffic-calming devices are both effective and wildly popular with (most) residents. Here’s why more cities are going all-in on speed humps.

Let us pay tribute to the speed hump, an unsung hero of street safety.

These prosaic protrusions of pavement can work wonders -- and at minimal cost.

My deep dive, in Bloomberg 🧵

Many things are better in places without vehicular traffic

Car companies realize that streets full of their products look (and are) terrible

Yes, Black and Brown communities have more fast arterials and residents are more likely to die in a crash.

For that reason, one could argue that placing automatic cameras in minority n'hoods is esp good b/c they can save more lives (plus the reduction in fraught police-resident interactions).

One of the best things we can do to reduce crashes and their severity is lower vehicle speeds. In the absence of redesigned roads, automated enforcement is an effective way to achieve that goal. The fact these cameras produce revenue doesn't negate that speed lowering effect.

I've been interviewing city DOT staff for a research project, and they've consistently told me only a tiny minority of activists harps on privacy and "redlining" (whatever that means in the context of traffic cameras).

Most people just want to be safe. They want more automatic enforcement.

For instance: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27586103/

Also: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24471367/

Many more, too. It's just not true that safety cameras are unpopular.

It’s Easy to Hate Traffic Cameras. But They Do Save Lives. They raise issues of fairness, and critics claim they’re only about revenue. More speed and red-light cameras, however, would prevent a lot of deaths and injuries.

Yes, traffic cameras work, but it's a myth that people hate them!

Survey after survey shows that most people support automatic enforcement (and often want more of it).

This is a false controversy, fed by a minority of disgruntled drivers & journalists seeking narratives with conflict.

Avoiding The Possible Impending Death Of The US Auto Industry By: Sam Abuelsamid, VP of Market ResearchMy colleague Craig Daitch has written about the results of a YouGov study that examines the demographics of U.S. vehicle owners, and the prospects are extremel...

Yep:

US carmakers have "seemed to be falling all over themselves to abandon smaller, less expensive, and low or negative margin cars in favor of the larger SUVs & pickups that could pull in the big profits...[abandoning] customers needed to buy those profitable vehicles 10-20 years from now."

Indeed. Tesla shareholders have every right to be livid.

New academic research finds that Musk's MAGA turn is deterring US liberals from buying a Tesla:

"Liberals showed declining intentions to purchase Teslas compared with other EVs."

Also, conservatives aren't any more interested in buying a Tesla. Musk is a net drag.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Not exactly crazy for a jury to hold Tesla responsible for drivers assuming that the cars are self-driving

We’d be better off focusing less on the presence of a transit route and more on its frequency

On the latest episode, a listener asks: "What safety advice is terrible?"

@davidzipper.bsky.social's answer:
- "Cyclists: Keep to the right!"
- "Pedestrians: Make eye contact with the driver!"

@wesmars.bsky.social's answer:
- "Look both ways" (if coming from a state DOT, not a parent)

I’m missing something. If brand loyalty is declining, wouldn’t that hurt Detroit, which had long benefitted from longtime buyers?

I don’t follow re: brand loyalty?

Tesla hit with $243 million in damages after jury finds its Autopilot feature contributed to fatal crash The verdict follows a three-week trial that threw a spotlight on how Tesla and CEO Elon Musk have marketed their driver-assistance software.

A hugely important verdict.

The victims were pedestrians, so Tesla can't argue they knew/accepted Autopilot's risks.

People walking, biking, and inside other cars didn't consent to be Elon Musk's guinea pigs.

Get Involved! - Pittsburghers for Public Transit Our Membership is the heart and soul of our organization.Join our union and become a PPT Member today! Together we are grassroots union of transit riders, transit workers, and neighbors that is fighti...

Suggest connecting with these folks upon arrival. They’ll guide you.

I'd love to see the Left channel its passion for fare-free transit toward avoiding catastrophic service collapse in Philly, Pittsburgh, Providence, Kansas City, etc.

From the latest episode of Look Both Ways: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/l...