Comment 91396

By j.servus (registered) | Posted August 26, 2013 at 13:32:25 in reply to Comment 91373

"Better" and "worse" are relative to some values you're trying to realize. One-way is "better" for moving motorized traffic quickly. It's "worse" for pedestrians, for commerce, and for transit use. There is a lot of evidence about this. What values are we going to privilege in Hamilton?

People may disagree about how traffic volume works, but the evidence is clear. If you increase road capacity, you get increased traffic volume. If you decrease road capacity, some of that traffic is rerouted, but some of it just goes away.

Where does it go? Well, people have some choices about where they they go and how they get there. If you make it easier to drive, then you will get more cars. If it is easier to use other modes, then people will prefer them. In Tokyo, the transit is so comprehensive, and the driving so difficult, that almost no one would prefer to drive for most errands. People who walk for their errands also support a lively commerce in their neighborhoods. In Houston, it is the opposite. It is built for cars, and no one with a choice would prefer to function there without a car. Infrastructure decisions, in fact, create traffic.

One way streets make it easier for automotive through-traffic, but they are proven to depress bus ridership. It's not hard to imagine why. Think of the distance between King and Main at Barnesdale, or between Cannon and Wilson at Victoria. Who wants to walk those extra long blocks with parcels? It quite defeats the purpose of having frequent stops.

I'm certain one-ways also depress bicycle ridership. I live near Main and Wentworth. Lots of people on bicycles running short errands would like to cut west on Main. They use the sidewalk to do it, presumably because it's a lot easier than going down to King and then back up to Main. But the cyclists heading east (i.e., with the traffic) also use the sidewalk, because Main is inhospitable to life. The result is overcrowding a very narrow sidewalk (already it's hard to walk two abreast there) and surely also discouraging pedestrian and bicycle use. But if you're on a mission in a car, there's plenty of room on Main Street.

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