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These were installed about a year ago across dense, pedestrian-heavy section of Santa Monica, near where I live. I don't drive and usually travel that area on f

These were installed about a year ago across dense, pedestrian-heavy section of Santa Monica, near where I live. I don't drive and usually travel that area on foot. I can't speak for any safety changes, but they're vastly less convenient for pedestrians. Maybe they're mis-tuned, but the wait to cross is much, much longer, and due to both the pedestrians and the drivers being mostly tourists there's a ton of confusion that's not going away with time. Both cars and pedestrians have a tendency to just follow the vehicle lights. I'm not even sure what the rules for right turns are supposed to be. Given the blindingly obvious solution for the area of converting the narrow, crowded roads to one-way and/or no-turns, this has not turned out well. There was a trial at a single intersection about a year before the broader changeover that was a complete mess, but I guess it was one of those fake trials with a predetermined outcome because it didn't stop the broader roll-out.

kitotik 9y ago
The one in Venice at Windward seems to work pretty well. I haven’t seen the SM ones yet. I wonder if it’s just poor implementation - signage, control system timing, and sensors could maybe help.
zhoujianfu 9y ago
I just avoid driving on 4th and 2nd now, which I have come to decide is the only real advantage to these scrambles: locals learn to avoid them (when walking or driving), resulting in slightly less traffic? They do seem to only get installed in heavily touristy areas.
Moto7451 9y ago
I'm actually a fan of them but I agree that the city didn't install them correctly. Probably the biggest mistake was allowing bicycles the right of way during pedestrian crossing at the 4th and Colorado intersection. That just turns the whole thing into a game of frogger and encourages cyclists to run red lights at full speed at the other Scrambles, where they do not have the right of way.
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kitotik 9y ago

The one in Venice at Windward seems to work pretty well. I haven’t seen the SM ones yet. I wonder if it’s just poor implementation - signage, control system timing, and sensors could maybe help.

zhoujianfu 9y ago

I just avoid driving on 4th and 2nd now, which I have come to decide is the only real advantage to these scrambles: locals learn to avoid them (when walking or driving), resulting in slightly less traffic? They do seem to only get installed in heavily touristy areas.

Moto7451 9y ago

I'm actually a fan of them but I agree that the city didn't install them correctly. Probably the biggest mistake was allowing bicycles the right of way during pedestrian crossing at the 4th and Colorado intersection. That just turns the whole thing into a game of frogger and encourages cyclists to run red lights at full speed at the other Scrambles, where they do not have the right of way.

deleted 9y ago
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