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Other things to look out for: - Every tube station has a "labyrinth" to find. https://art.tfl.gov.uk/labyrinth/about/ https://art.tfl.gov.uk/labyrinth/about/

Other things to look out for: - Every tube station has a "labyrinth" to find. https://art.tfl.gov.uk/labyrinth/about/ https://art.tfl.gov.uk/labyrinth/about/ - Vehicles drive on the left hand side in the UK. Except at the entrance to the Savoy, where road markings make it clear they must drive on the right. - We love roundabouts. Londonist has a nice article on some of the weird things you can find on some of them here: https://londonist.com/london/secret/the-strange-things-you-can-find-on-london-s-roundabouts https://londonist.com/london/secret/the-strange-things-you-c... - When using transport, the normal rule of thumb is that the underground will be quicker than a bus or even a taxi on many journeys, but sometimes walking beats even that. TfL has a tube map that helps you figure that out (check out Covent Garden to Leicester Square - a 90 second tube journey that takes at least 8-10 minutes due to the depth of the line): https://content.tfl.gov.uk/walking-tube-map.pdf https://content.tfl.gov.uk/walking-tube-map.pdf

europeanguy 4y ago
> We love roundabouts Context for our American friends. This isn't specific to London. Everywhere I've lived in Europe is more roundabout-heavy than the USA. Because, you know, they're objectively superior ;-)
- PaulDavisThe1st 4y ago
  They are also spreading in the USA. New Jersey has had them for quite a long time, and is building more. I've been surprised to see them as an apparent new default for new intersections in central Wisconsin where my wife's family is from. There are even some new ones being added around Santa Fe where I live.
  - coyotespike 4y ago
    Yes, I agree both that they are objectively superior and that happily they are spreading! At first I would see people treat them like a slight curve in the road and blow through them, but we seem to have figured them out now
    - kevin_thibedeau 4y ago
      The ones in Indianapolis suck because heavy traffic flows can blow through as a train, completely blocking entry from other directions.
  - gorgoiler 4y ago
    Any SF-based Adobe employee will attest to the novelty of working next to The City’s only rotary.
- eropple 4y ago
  New England sits back smugly with our rotaries and judges you all. Politely--but we do.
- throwaway1777 4y ago
  They are increasingly common in new developments in the US, but no one is spending money to retrofit old intersections (rightly so I think)
  - ganjatech 4y ago
    No one except beautiful Portland, Maine. And probably loads of other towns in New England.
  - macintux 4y ago
    Carmel, Indiana has been retrofitting extensively.
  - numtel 4y ago
    LA and southern California could use some roundabouts. There's so many places with stop lights almost stacked on each other.
  - michaelcampbell 4y ago
    The ~dozen or so roundabouts near where I live (northern suburb of Atlanta, Georgia) have all been 4-way stop retrofits. And all in the last 10 years or so.
- classichasclass 4y ago
  Just got a new one near our house. Greater Los Angeles. My wife, an Aussie, is delighted.
- tedd4u 4y ago
  Many of the ones popping up in San Francisco at 4-way intersections RETAIN four stop signs ... <facepalm>
  - xvedejas 4y ago
    The ones I've seen are really more of a half-hearted traffic-calming measure than proper roundabouts. The intersections I can think of, they're in residential neighborhoods and there's just some new island in the middle of a four-way stop. It might be impossible to widen these into proper roundabouts due to the houses up to the property lines?
  - MattJ100 4y ago
    Placing new STOP signs in the UK required written permission from the secretary of state until some years ago. They're still quite uncommon here, typically reserved for more risky junctions. We most commonly use the "Give Way" sign at junctions instead, indicating that other traffic has priority.
- bigmattystyles 4y ago
  My French relatives are always impressed with the (mostly) civil behavior at 4 way stop signs in California and claim they would never work in France. It’s funny to me because every time they visit, they comment on them. I left France too young to know if they are right though.
  - post-it 4y ago
    Europe is definitely heavier on environmental design to enforce behaviours rather than signs, as nobody will obey a sign if they can get away with it.
    - LarryMullins 4y ago
      I think most people obey 4-way stop-sign intersections because they're afraid of getting T-boned by another car, not because they obey signs for the sake of obeying signs. People ignore signs when they can get away with it, but a 4-way stop-sign intersection is not such a case to anybody but the suicidally reckless.
  - mytailorisrich 4y ago
    How do they work in California? I think what your relatives mean is that if everyone has a stop then it'll be messy because everyone will try to go first after they have stopped... Here in the UK they have installed 2 stops and 2 give ways at a nearby crossing and it's already quite dangerous because no-one is sure what to do: those with give-ways think they should go before those with stops, those with stops think they should go first if they arrived first... honking ensues very often. If you're lucky it ends in a very British "you go first, no you go first" contest, which is not very practical, either.
    - bigmattystyles 4y ago
      you stop and go in the order you arrived to the stop line.
      - 4y ago
- antisthenes 4y ago
  >objectively superior* *Given that the roundabout is fed by single-lane streets with low traffic and excellent visibility and no stop signs before entry, which would otherwise negate the advantage of quicker entry.
  - LarryMullins 4y ago
    Single-lane roundabouts aren't very uncommon in America. Maybe not as common as in the UK, but they're definitely around and virtually every driver in America should be familiar with them. There will always be a few fools who don't grok them, but the same can be said for any aspect of driving. I think when Americans say they're baffled by UK roundabouts, they're almost always talking about the huge multi-lane roundabouts. Those, to me, are nightmare fuel.
    - ChainOfFools 4y ago
      not just multi lane, multi-roundabout multi-lane roundabouts, some with patial or alternating clock rotation patterns, exist there as well. famously: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Roundabout_%28Swindon%29?wprov=sfla1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Roundabout_%28Swindon%29...
- andrepd 4y ago
  They do take a huge amount of space, unfortunately.
js2 4y ago
> We love roundabouts “Look kids, there’s Big Ben! Parliament!” National Lampoon's European Vacation (1985): https://youtu.be/iAgX6qlJEMc https://youtu.be/iAgX6qlJEMc
- atonse 4y ago
  I don't know why this scene is so memorable. My older brother and I last saw this movie 30 years ago and we still remember and laugh about this scene when we think of London.
  - dylan604 4y ago
    Chevy Chase's laugh/cry moments of utter hysteria and derangement have always made me laugh at/with those scenes even more so as I've gotten older as I can totally relate.
ranit 4y ago
> Vehicles drive on the left hand side in the UK. Except at the entrance to the Savoy, where road markings make it clear they must drive on the right. Similarly on Palatino bridge (Ponte Palatino) in Rome, vehicles drive on the left side.
PebblesRox 4y ago
The Savoy entrance on Google Maps, in case anyone else is curious. Does anyone know why they have drivers enter on the right instead of the left? Does it make valet parking faster or something? https://www.google.com/maps/@51.5106158,-0.1210778,3a,17.4y,150.93h,86.4t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sx6fu1Rhed6bn6oOxhrY4jg!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3Dx6fu1Rhed6bn6oOxhrY4jg%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D135.23767%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192 https://www.google.com/maps/@51.5106158,-0.1210778,3a,17.4y,...
- xvedejas 4y ago
  It makes it easier for the driver/chauffeur to get out and open the passenger's (rear, driver-side) door.
  - Maursault 4y ago
    That may be true, but it's not quite that. In Savoy Court, vehicles are required to drive on the right. This is said to date from the days of the hackney carriage when a cab driver would reach his arm out of the driver's door window to open the passenger's door (which opened backwards and had the handle at the front), without having to get out of the cab himself. Additionally, the hotel entrance's small roundabout meant that vehicles needed a turning circle of 25 feet (7.6 m) to navigate it. This is still the legally required turning circle for all London cabs.[1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savoy_Hotel#Savoy_Court https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savoy_Hotel#Savoy_Court
    - pbalau 4y ago
      Hackney carriages still exist. And a great deal of them made the move to electric. That's just another name for car for hire or taxi. That was a til for me too, i though that means the shape of the vehicle.
      - extraduder_ire 4y ago
        > That's just another name for car for hire or taxi. There's a legal distinction between taxis and hackneys. Taxis can be taken from a taxi rank or flagged down, but hackneys must be called to collect you. I'm sure there was a reason for the distinction at some point, but it remains.
rahimnathwani 4y ago
There's also a geographically accurate map: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/224813/response/560395/attach/3/London%20Connections%20Map.pdf https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/224813/response/56039... https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/transparency/freedom-of-information/foi-request-detail?referenceId=FOI-0525-1920 https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/transparency/freedom-of-informa...
gorgoiler 4y ago
London traffic lights are all equipped with PCATS — pedestrian countdown at traffic signal. It’s the timeout signal that shows how many seconds you have left to cross the road. The implementation is very hacker friendly. The PCATS counter is literally bolted onto the side of the existing lights and learns the pattern of the system to which it is attached by monitoring its behavior. There is basically all but an air gap between the counter and the lights themselves, and the counter is making an informed guess. They start their installation-lives having no idea how much time will be left. As such, each counter is equipped with a 4 bit error display to indicate its status — out of sync, could not sync, faulty lights, etc. Keep your eyes peeled for little LEDs telling you something about the internal status of the system. Example: https://uk.yunextraffic.com/portfolio/traffic-signal-control-solutions/signals/pcats-pedestrian-countdown-at-traffic-signals/ https://uk.yunextraffic.com/portfolio/traffic-signal-control... Error codes shown here, on page 7: https://content.tfl.gov.uk/PCaTS-Note-4-Technical-Specification-v03h.pdf https://content.tfl.gov.uk/PCaTS-Note-4-Technical-Specificat...
- sbuk 4y ago
  Another cool feature of of pedestrian crossings (and I think this applies to the whole UK) is the accessibility aids. We're all used to beeping traffic signals, but did you know that on the underside of the control box there is a tactile cone that rotates when the green signal is active? https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/pedestrian-facilities-blind-and-partially-sighted-people#toc-4 https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/pedestrian-facilities-b...
rishabhkaul1 4y ago
Oh yes, I've seen those labyrinths! There's one right next to the elevator at Holloway road station, and I just end up ogling at while waiting for the lift to arrive. It's great!

europeanguy 4y ago

> We love roundabouts Context for our American friends. This isn't specific to London. Everywhere I've lived in Europe is more roundabout-heavy than the USA. Because, you know, they're objectively superior ;-)

PaulDavisThe1st 4y ago
They are also spreading in the USA. New Jersey has had them for quite a long time, and is building more. I've been surprised to see them as an apparent new default for new intersections in central Wisconsin where my wife's family is from. There are even some new ones being added around Santa Fe where I live.
- coyotespike 4y ago
  Yes, I agree both that they are objectively superior and that happily they are spreading! At first I would see people treat them like a slight curve in the road and blow through them, but we seem to have figured them out now
  - kevin_thibedeau 4y ago
    The ones in Indianapolis suck because heavy traffic flows can blow through as a train, completely blocking entry from other directions.
- gorgoiler 4y ago
  Any SF-based Adobe employee will attest to the novelty of working next to The City’s only rotary.
eropple 4y ago
New England sits back smugly with our rotaries and judges you all. Politely--but we do.
throwaway1777 4y ago
They are increasingly common in new developments in the US, but no one is spending money to retrofit old intersections (rightly so I think)
- ganjatech 4y ago
  No one except beautiful Portland, Maine. And probably loads of other towns in New England.
- macintux 4y ago
  Carmel, Indiana has been retrofitting extensively.
- numtel 4y ago
  LA and southern California could use some roundabouts. There's so many places with stop lights almost stacked on each other.
- michaelcampbell 4y ago
  The ~dozen or so roundabouts near where I live (northern suburb of Atlanta, Georgia) have all been 4-way stop retrofits. And all in the last 10 years or so.
classichasclass 4y ago
Just got a new one near our house. Greater Los Angeles. My wife, an Aussie, is delighted.
tedd4u 4y ago
Many of the ones popping up in San Francisco at 4-way intersections RETAIN four stop signs ... <facepalm>
- xvedejas 4y ago
  The ones I've seen are really more of a half-hearted traffic-calming measure than proper roundabouts. The intersections I can think of, they're in residential neighborhoods and there's just some new island in the middle of a four-way stop. It might be impossible to widen these into proper roundabouts due to the houses up to the property lines?
- MattJ100 4y ago
  Placing new STOP signs in the UK required written permission from the secretary of state until some years ago. They're still quite uncommon here, typically reserved for more risky junctions. We most commonly use the "Give Way" sign at junctions instead, indicating that other traffic has priority.
bigmattystyles 4y ago
My French relatives are always impressed with the (mostly) civil behavior at 4 way stop signs in California and claim they would never work in France. It’s funny to me because every time they visit, they comment on them. I left France too young to know if they are right though.
- post-it 4y ago
  Europe is definitely heavier on environmental design to enforce behaviours rather than signs, as nobody will obey a sign if they can get away with it.
  - LarryMullins 4y ago
    I think most people obey 4-way stop-sign intersections because they're afraid of getting T-boned by another car, not because they obey signs for the sake of obeying signs. People ignore signs when they can get away with it, but a 4-way stop-sign intersection is not such a case to anybody but the suicidally reckless.
- mytailorisrich 4y ago
  How do they work in California? I think what your relatives mean is that if everyone has a stop then it'll be messy because everyone will try to go first after they have stopped... Here in the UK they have installed 2 stops and 2 give ways at a nearby crossing and it's already quite dangerous because no-one is sure what to do: those with give-ways think they should go before those with stops, those with stops think they should go first if they arrived first... honking ensues very often. If you're lucky it ends in a very British "you go first, no you go first" contest, which is not very practical, either.
  - bigmattystyles 4y ago
    you stop and go in the order you arrived to the stop line.
    - 4y ago
antisthenes 4y ago
>objectively superior* *Given that the roundabout is fed by single-lane streets with low traffic and excellent visibility and no stop signs before entry, which would otherwise negate the advantage of quicker entry.
- LarryMullins 4y ago
  Single-lane roundabouts aren't very uncommon in America. Maybe not as common as in the UK, but they're definitely around and virtually every driver in America should be familiar with them. There will always be a few fools who don't grok them, but the same can be said for any aspect of driving. I think when Americans say they're baffled by UK roundabouts, they're almost always talking about the huge multi-lane roundabouts. Those, to me, are nightmare fuel.
  - ChainOfFools 4y ago
    not just multi lane, multi-roundabout multi-lane roundabouts, some with patial or alternating clock rotation patterns, exist there as well. famously: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Roundabout_%28Swindon%29?wprov=sfla1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Roundabout_%28Swindon%29...
andrepd 4y ago
They do take a huge amount of space, unfortunately.

js2 4y ago

> We love roundabouts “Look kids, there’s Big Ben! Parliament!” National Lampoon's European Vacation (1985): https://youtu.be/iAgX6qlJEMc https://youtu.be/iAgX6qlJEMc

atonse 4y ago
I don't know why this scene is so memorable. My older brother and I last saw this movie 30 years ago and we still remember and laugh about this scene when we think of London.
- dylan604 4y ago
  Chevy Chase's laugh/cry moments of utter hysteria and derangement have always made me laugh at/with those scenes even more so as I've gotten older as I can totally relate.

ranit 4y ago

> Vehicles drive on the left hand side in the UK. Except at the entrance to the Savoy, where road markings make it clear they must drive on the right. Similarly on Palatino bridge (Ponte Palatino) in Rome, vehicles drive on the left side.

PebblesRox 4y ago

The Savoy entrance on Google Maps, in case anyone else is curious. Does anyone know why they have drivers enter on the right instead of the left? Does it make valet parking faster or something? https://www.google.com/maps/@51.5106158,-0.1210778,3a,17.4y,150.93h,86.4t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sx6fu1Rhed6bn6oOxhrY4jg!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3Dx6fu1Rhed6bn6oOxhrY4jg%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D135.23767%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192 https://www.google.com/maps/@51.5106158,-0.1210778,3a,17.4y,...

xvedejas 4y ago
It makes it easier for the driver/chauffeur to get out and open the passenger's (rear, driver-side) door.
- Maursault 4y ago
  That may be true, but it's not quite that. In Savoy Court, vehicles are required to drive on the right. This is said to date from the days of the hackney carriage when a cab driver would reach his arm out of the driver's door window to open the passenger's door (which opened backwards and had the handle at the front), without having to get out of the cab himself. Additionally, the hotel entrance's small roundabout meant that vehicles needed a turning circle of 25 feet (7.6 m) to navigate it. This is still the legally required turning circle for all London cabs.[1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savoy_Hotel#Savoy_Court https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savoy_Hotel#Savoy_Court
  - pbalau 4y ago
    Hackney carriages still exist. And a great deal of them made the move to electric. That's just another name for car for hire or taxi. That was a til for me too, i though that means the shape of the vehicle.
    - extraduder_ire 4y ago
      > That's just another name for car for hire or taxi. There's a legal distinction between taxis and hackneys. Taxis can be taken from a taxi rank or flagged down, but hackneys must be called to collect you. I'm sure there was a reason for the distinction at some point, but it remains.

rahimnathwani 4y ago

There's also a geographically accurate map: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/224813/response/560395/attach/3/London%20Connections%20Map.pdf https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/224813/response/56039... https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/transparency/freedom-of-information/foi-request-detail?referenceId=FOI-0525-1920 https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/transparency/freedom-of-informa...

gorgoiler 4y ago

London traffic lights are all equipped with PCATS — pedestrian countdown at traffic signal. It’s the timeout signal that shows how many seconds you have left to cross the road. The implementation is very hacker friendly. The PCATS counter is literally bolted onto the side of the existing lights and learns the pattern of the system to which it is attached by monitoring its behavior. There is basically all but an air gap between the counter and the lights themselves, and the counter is making an informed guess. They start their installation-lives having no idea how much time will be left. As such, each counter is equipped with a 4 bit error display to indicate its status — out of sync, could not sync, faulty lights, etc. Keep your eyes peeled for little LEDs telling you something about the internal status of the system. Example: https://uk.yunextraffic.com/portfolio/traffic-signal-control-solutions/signals/pcats-pedestrian-countdown-at-traffic-signals/ https://uk.yunextraffic.com/portfolio/traffic-signal-control... Error codes shown here, on page 7: https://content.tfl.gov.uk/PCaTS-Note-4-Technical-Specification-v03h.pdf https://content.tfl.gov.uk/PCaTS-Note-4-Technical-Specificat...

sbuk 4y ago
Another cool feature of of pedestrian crossings (and I think this applies to the whole UK) is the accessibility aids. We're all used to beeping traffic signals, but did you know that on the underside of the control box there is a tactile cone that rotates when the green signal is active? https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/pedestrian-facilities-blind-and-partially-sighted-people#toc-4 https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/pedestrian-facilities-b...

rishabhkaul1 4y ago

Oh yes, I've seen those labyrinths! There's one right next to the elevator at Holloway road station, and I just end up ogling at while waiting for the lift to arrive. It's great!