April Fools’ Day traffic.

Although this is not one of my favourite days of the year I must admit that I found rather funny and amusing the following stories with urban traffic themes.

The first one comes from Philadelphia USA. Watch the Mayor announcing the E-lane initiative where pedestrians can walk and use their mobile at the same time safely.

The second one comes from Vancouver Canada where Vancouver Observer online newspaper announces the province's new mandatory pedestrian helmet law. This one if it was on Brisbane Times it would be more believable since Australia has already the mandatory cyclist law.
 

The first really interesting April fools’ day story about traffic and transportation that made world headlines was the Copenhagen’s new subway. It looked as if one of its cars had an accident, and had broken through and surfaced on the square in front of the town hall.

 

April Fools ’ Day presents a great opportunity to draw peoples attention to sustainable mobility and humour is quite an effective way to reach behavioural change.

Shared Space – Streets for everyone

By the term “Shared space” we define the design approach that seeks to change the way streets operate by reducing the dominance of motor vehicles, primarily through lower speeds and encouraging drivers to behave more accommodatingly towards pedestrians. In addition the use of level surface tends to remove a physical and psychological barrier to pedestrian movement. It can also indicate to drivers that pedestrians are not confined to the footway and that they can expect to encounter them in the whole of the street.
The other basic measure in shared space is reducing demarcation. Removing almost every road sign like speed limits and traffic lights increases the amount of interaction taking place between pedestrians and car drivers. Reducing demarcation indicates that the street is meant to be shared equally by all users of the street. Implied priority for vehicles is reduced, as are physical and psychological barriers to pedestrians using the street.

Shared space is not a solution for every city street. But is a great solution for streets with high leisure activity, historical importance and small commercial shops. Shared space enhances a street’s sense of place. As it is an idea based on sustainability all the basic principles of sustainable mobility must be considered. Successful shared space streets do not have to use costly materials, and their maintenance requirements are low.

Such proposals can benefit especially tourist destination cities. All that is needed some open minds and some political support.

What is mobility management?

Mobility management is the act of organizing people and resources efficiently and effectively so as to accomplish desired goals and objectives in the field of urban traffic and transportation.

The European Platform in Mobility Management (EPOMM.eu) defines:
Mobility Management (MM) is a concept to promote sustainable transport and manage the demand for car use by changing travellers’ attitudes and behaviour.
At the core of Mobility Management are "soft" measures like information and communication, organising services and coordinating activities of different partners. “Soft” measures most often enhance the effectiveness of "hard" measures within urban transport (e.g., new tram lines, new roads and new bike lanes).
Mobility Management measures (in comparison to "hard" measures) do not necessarily require large financial investments and may have a high benefit-cost ratio.

Mobility management can help cities and people living in cities, regardless of city size to improve everyday traffic conditions in an easy and most of all inexpensive way.