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As others have said, this does not hold for the majority of commuters in New York City, where finding a parking space and navigating rush-hour traffic often mak

by muglug 4y ago

As others have said, this does not hold for the majority of commuters in New York City, where finding a parking space and navigating rush-hour traffic often makes commuting by car slower. In London they've chosen a different approach, making driving more painful: congestion charging and strictly-enforced 20-mile-an-hour speed limits on some of the main arteries in the centre of the city.

boygobbo 4y ago
The speed limit is a bit of a red herring. The average speed of traffic in central London is about 9 miles/hour & inner London about 12. The average speed in the suburbs (outer London) is about 20 mph, even though the speed limit is 30 mph. Average traffic speed in London: https://www.london.gov.uk/questions/sites/default/files/0832%20attachment.pdf https://www.london.gov.uk/questions/sites/default/files/0832... London speed limits: https://content.tfl.gov.uk/london-digital-speed-limit-map.pdf https://content.tfl.gov.uk/london-digital-speed-limit-map.pd...
mjhay 4y ago
As the other reply pointed out, those speed limits are pretty aspirational. The average trip time in central London decreased 30% [0] quite a bit after introduction of the charge, but things have slowed down again for various other reasons apparently. I don't think the congestion charge is unreasonable considering the negative externalities the vehicles cause. Aside from work or delivery vehicles, it seems bizarre to drive into central London by choice. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_congestion_charge#Traffic_speeds https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_congestion_charge#Traff...
orwin 4y ago
By the way, the rational for putting speed limits is quite solid and i know one engineer who worked on that who told me the average speed in Paris around and during rush hour actually increase (by roughly 5 km/h) despite lowering the speed limit by 10 km/h. Outside those hours the speed limit setup did decrease the average speed (shocking!), but for commuters (who felt strongly against this new limitation) the overall change was actually a net positive (less hour stuck in traffic), and for car-owning residents (who where split on this) it was a net negative.

by muglug 4y ago

boygobbo 4y ago

The speed limit is a bit of a red herring. The average speed of traffic in central London is about 9 miles/hour & inner London about 12. The average speed in the suburbs (outer London) is about 20 mph, even though the speed limit is 30 mph. Average traffic speed in London: https://www.london.gov.uk/questions/sites/default/files/0832%20attachment.pdf https://www.london.gov.uk/questions/sites/default/files/0832... London speed limits: https://content.tfl.gov.uk/london-digital-speed-limit-map.pdf https://content.tfl.gov.uk/london-digital-speed-limit-map.pd...

mjhay 4y ago

As the other reply pointed out, those speed limits are pretty aspirational. The average trip time in central London decreased 30% [0] quite a bit after introduction of the charge, but things have slowed down again for various other reasons apparently. I don't think the congestion charge is unreasonable considering the negative externalities the vehicles cause. Aside from work or delivery vehicles, it seems bizarre to drive into central London by choice. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_congestion_charge#Traffic_speeds https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_congestion_charge#Traff...

orwin 4y ago

By the way, the rational for putting speed limits is quite solid and i know one engineer who worked on that who told me the average speed in Paris around and during rush hour actually increase (by roughly 5 km/h) despite lowering the speed limit by 10 km/h. Outside those hours the speed limit setup did decrease the average speed (shocking!), but for commuters (who felt strongly against this new limitation) the overall change was actually a net positive (less hour stuck in traffic), and for car-owning residents (who where split on this) it was a net negative.