Traffic in Center City is a mess. Here's why and what should be done
philly.com/philly/business/transportation/phi...
philly.comPosted Mar 1, 2018, 3:19 PM UTC
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philly.comYou want to improve traffic in Center City, here's a few suggestions:
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Remove parking lanes and convert them to loading zones. (also works with the turning lane idea suggested in the report)
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Add a congestion fee to rideshares in Center City during heavy traffic hours.
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Add separate pedestrian signals at busy intersections.
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• remove parking lanes and convert them to wide, buffered bike lanes (which act as de facto loading zones with room enough to pass).
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I've seen this posted a few times in various cities about congestion fees to rideshare vehicles and I've always wondered why rideshare vehicles should be taxed vs single occupant vehicles. Aren't rideshare vehicles more efficient?
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No, because in most cases people using rideshares wouldn’t otherwise be driving, they’d be taking taxis that are already running or public transit. Rideshares are adding a significant number of vehicles to the roads and increasing the mileage traveled without passengers.
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Blocking an intersection is now a felony. I have done it, I fixed traffic
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Blocking an intersection is now a
felonycapital offense. I have done it, I fixed traffic
ftfy
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I don't know what the proper term is, but there needs to be a change in mentality towards exhibiting common courtesy to fellow drivers. The article touched upon the increase in deliveries from online retail. But I think that only scratches the surface. Drivers lately just don't care about moving over to the side, whether it be to drop off an uber/lyft passenger or just putting their flashers and sitting upwards of 20 to 30 minutes in a lane designated for traffic (it especially grinds my gears when there's an empty spot or "no stopping" parking areas available!). This doesn't just happen during rush hour, take a look at Walnut or Chestnut on a weekend. You'll see cars parked on the right lane for whatever reason with cars and buses trying to navigate that. Perfect recipe for clogged center city streets.
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My favorite Philly.com comment hating bikes:
- Require bikers to adhere to all traffic laws - ticket and fine like motorists
I've never seen a driver get a ticket for running a red, speeding, double parking, or blocking the box here, even if there is a cop right at the intersection.
I know everyone hates the PPA, but I would appreciate the PPA being deputized to enforce traffic violations in the city.
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or blocking the box
Some days I wish I could hand out fines for this. Hell, I wish anyone with a cell phone could hand out fines for this.
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I'd make the city millions. That kinda shit drives me up the wall.
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I've never seen a driver get a ticket for running a red
Years and years ago, I got a ticket for running a red light near the convention center that I am sure I didn't run, but I wasn't going to make a big scene over it. Yes officer, I'm sorry officer. Thank you officer.
Two weeks ago, I was crossing Race Street just after the light changed, and a car ran a red light. I was aware he was going to do that, so it wasn't really a dangerous situation, but as I continued crossing, another car ran the red light, from a different corner of the intersection. Again, I'm aware of my surroundings, I wasn't in danger - but this time it was a police car, which pulled over the other car, presumably for running that light.
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It's also very difficult to actually enforce those traffic tickets.
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Not unless you take away the financial incentive for the PPA to write traffic tickets. Otherwise it's another way to screw drivers.
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Cool. Let them ticket cyclists for blowing stop signs. We'll have laptops for every child.
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The best way to alleviate 90% of the issue is to ban anyone with 2 yellow license plates.
Traffic enforcement would solve the other 10%
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"Street miles resurfaced have actually gone down over the last 20 years. In 1997 the city resurfaced about 110 miles of road a year. Last year it handled not quite 60 miles. At its peak, the city resurfaced more than 180 miles of road a year."
How many miles of streets in Philadelphia? The streets system in Philadelphia totals 2,575 miles – 2,180 miles of city streets, 35 miles of Fairmount Park roads and 360 miles of state highways.
2% of roads repaved a year.
2%.
This screws everyone.
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Well, most public workers are lazy as shit. So, you're definitely not going to see an increase in roads paved, especially when the utilities and government sector is more concerned with hiring friends and meeting retarded diversity goals, rather than hiring competent workers.
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Pedestrians are a major cause of congestion, with up to 24,000 people a day on some Center City streets. People on foot block turning cars and back up streets. Turning parking lanes into turning lanes would be a big help, the report states.
How would this help? Then the turning lanes just become overly congested. Sounds like optimizing pedestrian and traffic signals would be far more effective.
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At it stands pedestrians crossing the street keep cars from turning, which prevents cars behind them from going straight. Adding turning lanes would take the cars waiting to turn or do the general flow of traffic and let other cars go straight through.
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Would suggest adding left turn lights that stop have a red for pedestrians, but if it's anything like 34th and market, they'll just cross anyhow and glare at you for daring to turn during the brief green arrow.
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I love this quote. Completely forgetting that cities are for people and not just space for drivers to speed through as fast as possible.
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A great way to solve traffic problems is to ban personal cars.
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The best and easiest fixes for center city streets are several fold.
The easiest and most obvious is remove or greatly curtail the amount of street parking on key streets like Walnut / Chestnut, Lombard / South, 20th/ 19th/ 18th / 13th /12th /11th/ 10th. Then create loading zones mid-block for delivery trucks to get out of traffic, increase ticket fees for those that don't. Even better would be to turn the parking into a buffered bike lane and alow loading and unloading from the lane, again with ridged ticket enforcement.
Creating pickup /drop off points for ride-shares, that they have to use, no more stopping the in the middle of the damn road and fucking everything up in the street, or violently swerving to the opposite side to pick up a passenger.
Red light cameras and speed cameras that actually work issuing very steep tickets for blowing lights and speeding, issue points if can be done.
I would like to see random police check points brought back to to immediately impound drivers who don't have a valid license, insurance, or outstanding violations.
Enforce ticketing on blocking the box, parking in a crosswalk, stopping in a no stopping zone.
Build out the sidewalk at the corners so that buses can load/unload faster, as well as optimize traffic lights to prioritize buses, and pedestrians crossing.
Congestion fees on ride-share companies during and in between rush hours in greater center city, end after rush hour to discourage drunk driving.
Resurfacing and repainting the lines on the streets so people can see them.
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The report pointed to the PPA as a possible solution, saying the agency could expand its mandate to become more involved in enforcement and planning.
That's when you start employing private entities to do thy bidding
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What are you bidding on?
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Dark bidding.
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Alright opinion piece but the title sucks
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The jim kenney way to fix this would be to pass a tax on locomotion
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You have to be a masochist to drive in CC during work hours. With deliveries, buses, construction, and people just being idiots* I walk faster than cars going in the same direction on chestnut/walnut.
*I saw a woman get dropped off in the middle of a block that was already one lane due to construction. She then stood at the window and had a conversation with the driver while a building traffic jam beeped and yelled behind her. People are the worst.
It's pretty surprising that Uber/Lyft don't have more intelligence built in to suggest (or even mandate) specific pickup/dropoff points on each block.
I play a game called 'does this car have a phila parking sticker' quite often while watching idiots stuck in rush hour traffic in center city. The answer is always no. I think that speaks volumes as to who is actually driving there.