The JET and culture change

[Martin Cassini]

Details are under wraps, but thanks to the hard-won support of a council, a JET (Junction Efficiency Trial) has lift-off. The aim is to explore potential improvements in congestion and road-user interaction. The current culture - based on major/ minor road separation, priority and unequal rights - fosters a "get out of my way" mindset which flouts social custom. It produces a "need" for lights - to break the priority streams of traffic so others can cross in relative (but not guaranteed) safety). When directional priority is absent - when lights are out of action - good manners and co-operative instincts re-emerge. The current system discourages, even outlaws, civilised interaction. Imagine how other motorists would react if you slowed down on a rural A-road to let people from a B-road enter or cross. As part of the JET, I aim to run a parallel programme of re-education to say it's OK, you are allowed to do what's natural and right on this new level playing field. Common law values of equal rights and responsibilities, strangled for decades by misguided technocrats, should get a chance to flourish. As I was writing this, I heard John Chambers, CEO of Cisco Systems, tell Peter Day on R4's In Business, "Command and control will be a dinosaur. From now on it's all about collaboration." How pertinent.

[Ian Perry]

Why I refer to India above is due to the awful road death statistics in that country. India has relatively few traffic controls and yet a high casualty rate. The Indian traffic in the videos may be moving, but the same traffic kills many (approximately 280) people every day and the annual death toll of 100,000 deaths in 2007 is expected to rise!
I am not sure that an audible honk from drivers to alert blind pedestrians that they have stopped will work. Drivers already honk at elderly and blind pedestrians to say, “You are too slow in crossing the road” – or words to that effect.

[Martin Cassini]

In response to Ian, and covering some of Kevin's points too:

1. A good result would be similar traffic volumes, shorter journey times, no “accidents”, less stress, less delay, elimination of the wasteful stop-start drive cycle, lower emissions, financial savings all round.

2. I’d scrap priority in favour of equality, with a view to changing the culture from intolerance to empathy. I’d back it up with a programme of re-education, and, given the budget, re-design streetscapes to stimulate a new culture of civilised space-sharing, equal rights and responsibilities. Re-design might include chequerboard or zebra streets and junctions. As regards the experience of blind people, we had a blog discussion somewhere on this. The gist is that most kerbs should be retained to aid orientation, and a form of audio communication might need to evolve, e.g. a short honk from drivers to say they’ve stopped. If things develop efficiently and harmoniously, the fear factor should ebb away.

3. My hunch is that freedom from vexatious controls will result in a more relaxed frame of mind, in which drivers won’t feel the need to compete. On FiT Roads, we wouldn’t be vying for green time but simply sharing the space and filtering. Moreover, with everyone acutely conscious of climate change and fuel costs, hypermiling is the new cool – haven’t you heard!?

4. The rules of the road as currently misconceived do nothing for human relations. They instil greater respect for a traffic light than for human life! With traffic lights and priority rules banished, mutual tolerance should flourish.

5. The current system produces a sense of alienation - from our surroundings and from each other. By treating us with respect and tolerance, FiT Roads should instil respect and tolerance for others. Moreover, enlightened self-interest means we don’t want to hurt others any more than we want to be hurt ourselves, or for that matter, damage our car. As I’ve said elsewhere, the new approach involves a trust in human nature rather than an obsession with controlling it.

[kevaquarian]

AT LAST!!!! Bring it on - it will be a joy to drive through those junctions! Great result - let's trust there'll be more councils taking the progressive route to road management...

And, in response to Ian's comment above - which raises some good points:

I believe people DO care about others whether they know them or not - I suppose this is just an opinion though?... Anyway, even if someone is totally self-centred and doesn't care a jot they will still not want themselves to have the hassle of a crash, or worse still the consequences of an accident involving an injured person surely?

I do fully support the re-education angle.

Whilst being careful about the gradual implementation, I believe we MUST try this stuff and be open-minded about the results. What has been observed at junctions where the lights are not working is a picture of co-operation and care as far as I've seen - have you checked any videos Ian? What did you see?....

[Ian Perry]

The downside of removing lights to increase the flow of traffic is that this will encourage more traffic. Would the ideal be the same traffic volumes, same journey times, but with much less driver stress, fewer "accidents" and financial savings for the council/tax payer?

Would "shared space" and/or zebra crossings be introduced to replace the pelican crossings? People perceive pelican crossings to be safer, yet they are not necessarily safer... How do we get the public and Guide Dogs etc. on our side?

There are some who will over take the car in front if it is slowing down as it approaches a red light, and then break heavily to stop at red... delaying the car they overtook which arrived at the junction on green (this has happened to me a number of times). How do we re-educate and reduce the speeds of those who would still drive as fast as their car allows between junctions, often because they want to be seen as "cool"?

Where London differs from shared space locations in the Netherlands, is that in the Netherlands it has mostly been introduced in smaller communities, where people know each other. In London, life is impersonal and people switch off to other people - hence the reputation of Londoners for being "cold".

How would FiT Roads or shared space work in large Indian cities? Do "we" care about "strangers"? Is the Dutch experience down to people caring for friends and relatives, or the law that makes car drivers responsible in the event of an accident?