@@UmutPotato You can schedule a video to be posted at a specific time, so this video along with this comment were probably uploaded a day ago and scheduled to be posted later.
Sure is nice to already live in the Utopia of street design. You could join us here, in the Netherlands, by emigrating. We have plenty of space left for refugees from the US of A...
I can't stand roundabouts!! People need to stop trying to make the US more like Europe, if I wanted European stuff, I'd go to Europe! Stop trying to make it like that here. I don't care if you say it's "better". I like things the way they are here.
I'm a part of the USDOT discretionary grants team. These videos are such a good explainer on why we need programs like this. Thanks for all you do to inform the public, it helps us a lot! Hope we can keep pushing forward one project at a time.
As a young person, it's really exciting watching this urbanism meme take off in the u.s. but im curious if its had any effect on executive branch policy. Has there been a change in language/priorities internally over the last few years?
@@owenelliott5742 lots of young people at DOT too! I would argue it feeds into each other. Public interest will influence policy direction, policy direction will lead to funding towards public interests. It becomes cyclical that way.
@@owenelliott5742 I would say it really works both ways. Public interest in these efforts and Congressional commitments to provide funding for it sort of feed off each other. If the United States is happy with the outcomes from this major investment, I think it's more likely we'll see a continuation of this funding. But it also takes Congress to get the money out in the first place, and put it in front of the public to decide. In a perfect world, executive branch priorities reflect that of the people.
As a vocal, opinionated teenager, I got onto a citizen's advisory board for the local transportation commission. At that point in time, the county had just purchased the various private operators that had chaotically served different routes. I got out roadmaps (gas stations used to give them out) and patched together our county. Agonizing over this for a few months, making observations on where I saw lots of people needing to go, I sketched out a route system to best serve the area. Our committee submitted it to the commission. A name change and 20 years later, that pretty much turned out to be what the system became. Of course, over 20 years, that was horribly outdated. Now, 30 more years later, I'm an old man and while this is one of the most advanced areas of the country and the transit system has made major improvements, it is still at least 20 years behind the needs. Progress happens slowly.
Top tier quality stuff, mate. Thank you for putting these things in a neutral way that makes them much more approachable to everyone. My biggest fear about these things in my own country is that people think insisting on better public transit and road infrastructure is something someone from one party or the other would do. So seeing examples of how to present these topics in a neutral way like in your videos helps me have these discussions in my life in a more effective way as well 🤗
It's not "neutral" if you start with the idea that things are wrong and need fixing. And by fixing, I specifically mean "making things less pleasant for drivers" It's not like all innovations are bad, roundabouts are faster and more efficient than stopsigns and 2-lane stoplights. However, cutting the road surface in half for 'traffic calming' just pisses everyone off.
@@Motoko_UrashimaZero traffic deaths in seven years in Hoboken, NJ makes those types of changes seem worth it. Usually there is a ton of local support for traffic calming. People that don't like it tend to live further away from where the changes are being proposed, but would be fine with similar initiatives in their own neighborhoods.
@@Motoko_Urashimaalso, who do you know that loves congested and dangerous roads that are crumbling? It's a fact that much of our infrastructure is in dire need of fixing, not an opinion. Thousands of people are literally dying because of these issues. And things are probably worse than we realize. Your take reminds me of that Monty Python scene where the guy gets all his limbs hacked off and claims it's just a flesh wound.
@@Motoko_Urashima if you do it in the right way: it isn't taking away road surface from cars, it's making the roads safer for all people not just (car) drivers. if you narrow the streets you also need to build other options or improve those options, like cycling, walking or public transport. this will mean that a percentage of drivers will switch to those options, because those options are now useful and safe to use. and in turn that means less cars on the road, and those fewer cars have plenty of space on the narrowed road.
This is everything I preach! In my hometown Rochester, NY we removed half of a sunken highway that was 8-10 lanes wide. It successfully attracted new businesses, increased affordable housing, resulted in re-connected neighborhoods, and so much more. It was so successful, we're ripping out the other half of the highway. This will result in complete removal of the moat that surrounded our downtown and choked off the center city.
Grew up in Rochester, moved away in '94... The inner loop could hardly be considered a "highway" It was too short, it was just plain unnecessary. I used to live on S union 30 years ago, hardly anyone used it when it was there. the plan to remove it was on the books well before all this current environmental trend. Activists are just jumping on board trying to claim it has something to do with heir causes. It was always a useless road that we had second thoughts on from almost day one.
Rochester has bled off many once good paying jobs it had. Eastman - Kodak for instance. Suspect the city itself is steadily losing population due to costs, inflation, property tax, and weather. Have met three ex upstate New Yorkers in my small area in the southwest.
True but rural people need to move to urban areas. The suburbs can't justify themselves and neither can rural living. It costs too much to subsidize the wanton wasteful spending it takes to maintain these types of living.
@@ElyonDominus Suburbs shouldn't count as rural. Suburban and rural are two different things entirely. My Dad grew up in a rural area, he was about halfway between two towns for most of his childhood and there was literally nothing for miles that wasn't a farm house. Areas like that can be fixed, they won't be contributing more than they take in terms of taxes, but generally, they produce other things. Suburbs though have no value to them other than as a place to live when not work. I recently finally understood the term "bedroom community." It's literally where people sleep after they come home from working in town.
@@ElyonDominusI had to double take when I saw you said that. No, people in rural areas do not need to move into cities, I live out in the country and I wouldn't trade it for the world. It's a far better way to live than to be stuck up in a noise apartment with people who hate your guts for no reason and no outdoor space. I never thought there was anyone dumb enough to say rural people need to move into cities. But that does tell me you're brainwashed and would be the first to succumb to a communist takeover. Think about what happened to China over the last 100 years.
Yes, and that definitely needs to be a piece of it. Around here we've had folks talking about "urban villages" for decades, but it turns out that it takes a lot of time and effort to get the zoning close enough and for the changes to actually happen. And, it gets even harder when companies closer grocery stores in an effort to save money through consolidation as you really do need more than one grocery store in reasonable proximity to wherever people are living. .
@@Matthew_Loutnerthat's a pretty broad claim to make. I'm sure there are examples of zoning laws that even you would agree need fixing. Do you think the status quo in San Francisco with some of the strictest zoning laws is the way things should be? At the very least there is room for improvement.
@@DizzyDiddy No zoning laws need to be fixed. It is a very simple matter to go before the zoning board and request a zone change for the lot you want to build on. Or a zoning variance. Or a zoning waiver. Or a non-conforming use. Only people who do not know anything about building say this stuff.
4:54 As a rural Michigan resident, these improvements are actively happening. Since 2022, several unorthodox intersections have been transformed into roundabouts, and more recently, last month, a section of road just outside a small town near me was completely torn out and replaced with a new base, new asphalt, and curbs. The previous condition of the road was beyond repair, as it hasn't been properly fixed in at least 40 years, and it probably has never been redone since it was first paved. It feels unreal to drive on now, being so smooth as opposed to rocky and bumpy due to the patches and potholes of years prior. Hang tight, change is happening!!!
Michigander here. I've been loving all of the roundabouts that are being installed in the Metro Detroit area and surrounding suburbs. Although if you're part of any local groups on Facebook or otherwise, you'll still see a lot of people who are anti-roundabout, and the only reason I can think of why they would feel this way is that they are resistant to change. I do feel like Michigan could've done a better job of raising public awareness for roundabouts and for a lot of the highway construction projects that are happening. Seems like this all just happened suddenly and they have everything everywhere ripped up all at once. Raising public awareness and installing better signage (even if temporary) on how to navigate new intersections and construction would go a long way. I've seen lack of awareness become a particularly hot issue when it comes to merging traffic as a result of lane closures. This has created lots of dangerous circumstances with people blocking lanes and not allowing people to merge because they feel like they are being slighted when people try to use the entirety of a lane up to the merge point. Anyways, I'm glad to see that progress is being made. It hasn't exactly been the smoothest of implementations, but at least we're finally trying to do something progressive here.
I want to offer a correction precisely because I like that this channel distinguishes itself from all the other "urbanist" channels in its positivity and in discussing how things get done, rather than the usual complaining that every other channel does, and hope you keep going with what makes this channel so much better than others. When talking about pre-automobile streets, it is NOT true that they were "designed for everyone". For one, they were usually not designed at all (beyond laying out a street grid and street widths), and secondly, they were not spaces "for everyone". Aside from obvious issues of their time, they were also crowded and dangerous, just as much then as now. Tram and carriage accidents were habitual (just look up the origin of the "Dodgers" name or death of Antoni Gaudi), rail tracks had (and have) the same destructive impacts that freeways have now, and cities were walkable purely in a functional sense, and out of necessity. My point is, we should be careful not to romanticize the past, because it paints the false idea that planning and designing cities has made them worse / was a mistake. A more accurate description would be to say that streets and roads have not been designed with enough care and when combined with automobile dependency has resulted in cities not seeing the improvements that could've come had we done a better job. That is, we should've had more and better planning. Anyway great video
There are many historical places in Europe where the street layout hasn't changed much/at all since before the car, and it usually works very well. In my city, the main street never had cars on it, but since the 1880s it had streetcars, which were now converted into modern trams that serve the entire city. It's very quiet and safe, much better than the other streets in the area which are open to cars. It gets pretty busy, but because people walk/take the tram and don't drive there, it's very comfortable. The rail corridor in my city is also much better integrated into the urban environment than the highway, as it is smaller (6 tracks instead of 6-8 lanes) and doesn't have massive interchanges that take up tons of space. So while your comment holds some truth, the streets of old are still better than most of the modern stuff according to my experience, and I would take a rail corridor over an elevated highway any day.
The roads were not designed for everyone. They were designed for horses, carriages, walking, and delivery wagons (the origin of the name and Union, called the Teamsters, who now drive trucks and tractor-trailers. The automation was grafted onto that equine transportation model. Great video which I shared with my cousin who is on a transportation committee in local government.
My city (In Maryland) just installed a diverging diamond. It's the best decision the city has made in years. 2 intersections that could take up to a half hour to get through during rush hour has ZERO congestion now, ever. Also, way less accidents. The old intersections were very dangerous. Extra lanes were not added in the process. 2 lanes in each direction before, and 2 lanes in each direction after. We've also installed tons of traffic circles, and aside from the few people that have no idea how a traffic circle works, it definitely keeps traffic moving vs multiple roads all taking turns at a 4 way stop.
@@noobling8313why do you insist on calling the front of a car where the engine is a thing that women settling the plains in the 1800s in the US and other areas wore? Just saying. We have way more differences than which side of the pond we are on in our language.
Absolutely love this kind of content, there isn’t much content online about traffic engineering and design, let alone high quality content like this. Just curious, what software do you use to create 2-D road designs?
The problem with roundabout/rotaries vs traffic signals is people are still not slowing down. A rotary near me was removed because people were still entering it at high speed. Instead of a traditional 4 way intersection it was replaced with sharp 90 degree turns and traffic lights. This forces people to stop.
Fantastic video. As a transportation engineer I have to say you nailed it. Your video captures how the system works, why it can be challenging, and the most effective ways individuals can make a difference. Especially if you live in a city, please vote in local elections and go to public meetings! Best things you can do!
Residents: “change is urgent, change is necessary, so long as nothing has to change to make change happen” -my neighborhood association (NOT an HOA thank GOD). I’m a municipal roadway design project manager and story of my life right now. Like a roadway designer meets Abbott and Costello. I should say though the lions share of my projects go smoothly and supportive of modernizing and “completing” streets inclusive of traffic calming and multimodal.
3:52 I know 3 roundabouts in my area on a rural highway within 3 miles of each other. They were built in the past 10 years and have curves leading up to them so drivers slow down. There are also good sidewalks for future development
I’ve started uploading my videos on different highways in the Dallas/Fort Worth metropolitan area, and the online presentations from these meetings is exactly where I get my info on projects. It’s super useful for anyone that wants to know what’s going on near your area
Loving your videos because your videos aren’t “car bad, booo, spend trillions upon trillions of dollars to completely rebuild the continent and ban cars internationally.” You explain that this isn’t feasible and show that we don’t need to completely replace cars, we need to change how drivers interact with each other, and with people outside of cars. Looking forward to seeing more from you!
I'm actually from France and I drove in Hoboken, compared to NY or along the I-95 to Washington. It's a real pleasure to drive there. It's beautiful and you feel safe driving around!
This is exactly the type of thing I've been hoping for in an urban planning channel! It's great that you not only give actionable advice, but also explain what it might look like to attend local meetings, etc. This is very helpful!
There are too many red lights when there should be stop signs or roundabouts, and none of the lights are synced with each other, I am slowly losing my mind with this every day
Stop signs are definitely worst when on a artery road though. Where I live if your going through the main way the lights are green by default and only turn red when someone is wanting to turn left or straight from an adjacent road
I think a many red lights are intentionally out of sync to create traffic which slows it down / reduces the chance of that one driver to be driving 25 over the limit but at the same time it causes everyone frustration of having to stop at almost every intersection.
@@MagicToenail How? With cops or cameras? Because I can almost guarantee you that no city can pay a cop to watch one street for a few hours a week and write enough tickets to get people to slow down. Cameras have the possibility to invade privacy but can actually be implemented by cash strapped local governments. Neither enforcement solution is perfect, but thinner streets are proven to slow cars down.
@@N6624_s Maybe you should learn a thing or thwo from Europe. There is no cop here chasing you or writting tickets. There are smart cameras installed wich detect the speed,if you are wearing the safety belt, reads your license and check if the car have insurance and the tecnical inspection passed,etc. There is no need of cops to chase them like in the movies,because after 2-3 days,an envelop will arrive to him,with the pic,speed and the fine value. Expensive selfie,i tell you. Other type are the average speed cameras,installed at the beginning and the end of roads,wich records the licence plate,enter time and exit time. with the time and distance it calculates the average speed the car travelled,if the average speed is higher then the legal allowed,same,fine arriving in the post box. Other methods : drones with radar patrolling, police cars undercover with radar hidden in the bonnet and trunck,those are the most dangerous here, because you never know when or where you gonna meet them in traffic and make you a fashion model photo session😆
I'd like to add more local resources: specifically neighborhood associations (and HOAs, presumably). These are the places that you can often have the greatest direct impact, and often some significant indirect impact. Most neighborhood associations have city council members either in attendance, or with close communication. This provides great communication lines where it often matters the most. This can also mean a simpler and more direct public input process. Even more local (and less policy) is just talking to your neighbors. By encouraging some of my neighbors to just get out and walk the neighborhood, I've gotten a couple of them to realize just how it feels to have an automobile drive past them, even at 20-25mph, which has affected their driving habits (at least within the neighborhood).
This Utube channel is why Utube is great. Creating a place for people to learn. I find street and road planning fascinating. May you find good fortune.
God this was good. You basically mentioned all the ways people can influence the process to get to better infrastructure! I'm from Germany and have been part of a local climate group for 3 years and am now also elected into the city council. I know from my activism that simply voting is not enough, we need people that are going to meetings and giving feedback so the planners can actually do good things. Thank you so much for giving this overview!
4:14 hey, look, it's what used to be 4th street in cleveland, and now is a pedestrian mall with a bunch of amazing restaurants and clubs (mabel's BBQ on the right, by the way...)
I noticed that, then thought the only thing that really would have prevented a driveway from being that close to the intersection would be the presence of a traffic light.
Near my home the very first SPUI in my state was built about 5 years ago. It is an amazing improvement. now a major modified SPUI is under construction on I-90 & Hwy 41 in Idaho. It is taking a while, but there really has been minimal impact on I-90 during the construction. Hwy 41 - not so much. But this will be an incredible improvement to this interchange that residents will appreciate once it is complete. For now, all I hear is the stereotypical construction gripes. I would love to see this project featured on your channel. Much has gone into the considerations for this massive project. I am impressed, in particular with the pedestrian planning. I love your videos and cant wait for each new release.
It’s a good thing that you start with building roundabouts, here in Europe we find that they increase efficiency and decrease serious accidents. I looked closely at the peanut-shaped one at around 3:30. What it is missing is the possibility for pedestrians to cross it safely. If for example a kid from the house on the right side wants to visit kids from the other side, does it have to be brought by car, or is traffic so low, that it is safe to cross without pedestrian crossing?
I live in the UK. There are a huge challenges with roads here too. Even basic rural roads are falling apart, full of potholes, and numerous roundabouts, traffic lights, restrictions, no parking have led to journeys taking much longer, the inability to park. Towns have ceased to serve the surrounding areas, the counties, instead they have been encouraged to see themselves as isolated entities. It becomes so difficult to visit towns that high streets are losing shops. This suits the big out of town stores, but the independent stores are closing. They are replaced by fast food restaurants as they pay more rent, than the likes of shoemakers. One of the issues is the lack of planning the road system to ensure that the various categories of traffic can function independently of one another. An example of this is the city of Oxford. The major north/south route the A34 a dual carriage way, is a national route and even classified as a European route, yet it also serves as a bypass for Oxford city. The city is discouraging traffic from crossing the various bridges so vehicles are forced on to the ring roads which are meant to allow vehicles to connect between other major routes. So the A34 gets grid locked and traffic tries to find routes through villages. With all of this infrastucture comes the necessity of maintenance, it appears that this is not factored in to the budgets of the various responsible authorities. Typically maintenance is not done adequately and repairs are only undertaken in the guise of a new 'project'. The UK population has grown significantly in recent decades, which has made landowners, developers, landlords very wealthy but the infrastructure has not been able to keep up with the demands, and why would it when we cannot afford to maintain what we have.
Most of Australia has a “roundabout first” rule. When roads are designed or updated, a roundabout is considered the first option. It is only then that they look to see whether an option better than around about would suit that particular situation, but it’s roundabout first.
Most people do not know they have to yield to cars in the roundabout. In GB and AUS, where these have been around for many years, there's lots of crashes on roundabouts, especially multi-lane roundabouts. One city that reduced crashes did it by eliminating left turns so you weren't competing with oncoming cars. The real problem is mobile phones. The NTSB says talking on your phone has the same effect as drinking. If we started charging phone accidents as DUIs, crashes would be reduced. It's easy to check without violating privacy concerns. The cell carrier could say whether you had sent or talked in the proceeding 5 minutes without ever disclosing any content.
FINALLY an urbanism video that actually tells you how to HOW to make an impact instead of just bickering and blabbering. Thank you so much! I will definitely take these into mind and try to make as much of a difference in the future. Urbanism has absolutely blown up in North America over the past several years, and with such rapid growth and passion, I can't help but feel optimistic about the future!
We also have a serious overuse issue due to the way port fees are structured. They charge per crane "touch", which results in containers being loaded on to trucks when it would normally make more sense to use short distance cargo ships. The extra truck traffic results in extra wear on the roads.
Highways should never be widened at all and the money spent on that should be diverted to public transit. Ramp meters and tolls at peak times could be implemented to help reduce congestion as well
That sort of ignorance is why it's so hard at times to get better infrastructure. A growing city may need more lanes of traffic, you need a certain number of trucks coming and going based on the population size. There are also areas where building alternate mass transit may not be practical. There's also issues in terms of planning where you don't always know when there's going to be some sort of change that triggers a bunch of internal migration to a region.
@@titaniumvideos1039 name one example then? You only need to look at the Katy Freeway in Texas and see how traffic has gotten worse despite being widened multiple times
@@SmallSpoonBrigade the points you make may seem obvious but are in fact wrong. To start with, it’s much more efficient to move freight with trains rather than trucks because of economies of scale. Trucks should only be used for last mile delivery to move goods to warehouses or shops rather than across regions or the country. Also you say there are areas where building mass transit may not be practical when that isn’t true. Transit can be built anywhere. Some modes are better than others, grade separated rail that is elevated or underground is great for high frequencies and moving a lot of people in downtown areas, light rail is more suited to areas with lower density and buses can act as feeders to enable transfers or serve rural areas
@@SmallSpoonBrigade your point on planning is true but transit has always proven to be a net positive. It’s great for business as they can attract more customers, it’s great for people who can find better jobs or education, it’s great for tourism as people don’t need to rent cars and so much more. The reason why New York City is the most populous city in the country is because of it’s transit system
This is a useful video with good info on what an ordinary citizen can do to help improve roads. I plan to come back to it to remind myself to do what I can to be involved, because the way things are in my city could be improved so much.
I love your videos. I’m from the UK, where we experience the same issues regarding car-centric thinking. Our roads are fairly safe, but there’s still a long way to go. I’ve always wanted to visit the US, but I would be way too scared to ever drive your roads.
This video covered a lot of ground. The focus on safety is important and provides a neutral entry point to effective innovations that often get politicized. A roundabout that makes it safer for road users shouldn't be controversial. Its nice to have more and more examples to draw inspiration from, even if I live in a state and city that's been slow to consider or implement improvements like land reconfigurations, roundabouts, etc.
Very good content. Very informative and unbiased. I live in small town upstate NY and we are seeing lots of roundabouts springing up over the last decade or so in my town and many if the surrounding towns. The most congested intersection in the county got a roundabout and it is no longer a problem. If we could just get everyone to understand how they work. It's simple in my opinion but some drivers still can't handle them. Of course some drivers can't handle a 4-way stop.
I still find so much value in the historic odd five six-point intersections that I don't think we should touch them or do anything to them. In my hometown of Indianapolis we recently made a six-point intersection around about with two dead ends and it just doesn't feel the same or have the same directional historic impact.
In Washington State, we need to fix the DOT morons that think that TURNING CIRCLES are safer than a stoplight. They've wasted a LOT of money installing those wreck CAUSERS all over the place - often on MAJOR HIGHWAYS - in the last few years.
However, this is not due to the roundabouts but to bad American drivers. They work perfectly everywhere in the world. Except in the land of ignorance and poor education. This also includes training to participate in road traffic.
These videos are really knowledgeable and i hope your channel continues to grow. I do wish some of the better videos from Tiktok were also on youtube though!
I'm glad you are trying to change and highlight the good changes in roads of the country you live in. Its a nice change compared to the average urbanist channel (being a coward and leaving, then laughing at those who are trying to make the best of the country they live in (*cough* Not Just Bikes *cough*)). I'm a car guy through and through but I understand the problem they can create, just as anything else. You've got a great thing going here, keep it up. If there are any other channels like yours I can watch I'd love to hear about them
ALL concrete curbs need to be painted in highly reflective paint to enhance visibility at night and in inclement weather... In addition, more reflective lane markers need to be used.
NORTH FLORIDA AVE in Tampa it's northern part is deadly! Once a council member Went to ask for cross walks.. True story in the hearing they said. Federal roads managed by federal, state managed by state, and county roads ... No crosswalks.. Meeting over 10years ago.
What do you think of rebuilding the train network and try to reduce the use of freight vehicles on the road. Any new commercial & industrial centres being built will need to have a train station for freight?
I like this. Wish more cities would follow Hoboken NJ's example. They are following the pattern of many European Countries. I have read about many US cities refusing to look at this type of change due to our use of large Firetrucks. Due to their size, they wouldn't fit on the smaller streets.
The best is to use concrete in metropolitan areas. Roads with more traffic must become moderate access rds being wide median rds. By that minor rds at this rds must split up. By that, traffic on this minor rds must always turn right and if want to turn left ⬅️ or cross must take a tunnel. Rds with much more traffic must become express rds with complete feeder rds. This will minimize driving time for good.
At least in the US there is pleanty of space to fix the roads, you can run multiple transit corridors for the space of one seven line stroad, as well at replace those huge intersections with roundabouts to calm traffic, reduce accidents and improve traffic flow compared to timed traffix light and four way stops.
only 3:20 in and enjoying it so far so thanks. but something just said reminded me I lived for 6 years in MI and always found it strange with people parking near junctions in the UK it is against the traffic rules to park within 10 meters (32 ft) of a junction or opposite a junction. This leaves sight lines for drivers and peds. As was stated the fatality rate in the US is over 40k per year for about the last 10 years, this is on a par with gun deaths (but not going there) but when you look at Europe the death rates are a lot lower, but unfortunately anytime you use that as examples of how systems should be changed a lot of people shut you down. The UK death rate on the roads is around 1k per year for a population that is 1/5th that of the US, but even if you increase the pop in line with the US that would still only lead to 5k per year not the 40+k the US has been having for the last couple of decades. Also UK and general European Pops live with higher population density, more people closer together, which should all things being equal lead to higher death rates in Europe but the opposite is true. Across the whole of the European Union in 2022 there were 20, 653 deaths for a total population of 450 million people in the USA for the same year there were 42,514 deaths over double that of Europe for a population of 341,534,046 people so in Europe 0.004589555555r percent of the population killed per year while in USA 0.012467448680 percent were killed that figure is three times higher per person risk of dying. When you look at date related to number people who die per 100,000 USA it is almost 13 people per 100,000 (12.8) but the UK a country it is only 2.2 people per 100,000 20% of that of the US and I am not cherry picking the UK Finland 3.8 per 100,000 Iceland 3.8 Netherlands 3.8 Germany 3.7 Spain 3.7 Denmark 3.4 San Marino 3.2 Ireland 2.9 Sweden 2.2 Switzerland 2.2 Compared to 12.8 per 100k in the USA And this is only looking at deaths. The US NHTSA has on multiple occasions worked out the economic and social impact of non-fatal accidents in the US, both to individuals and to tax payers Insurance companies have done the same It has been worked out that the average Year in the US over $$340 Billion (yes with a B) is paid out by insurance companies to those involved in traffic accidents. Yes where there is a person at fault their insurance pays, but the knock on is to every driver as their premiums go up, it is also estimated that the average family of four in the US pays in taxes and insurance premiums an average of $4,140 per year over and above to compensate for these accidents. NHTSA has also estimated that over 1.8 Trillion (yes with a T) is caused in economic harm to the USA by this high number of accidents (days off of work recovering, closed roads, missed trade, time spent by emergency services, damage to infrastructure. --- their report in 2020 stated "Speed-related crashes are associated with 10,192 fatalities, 498,000 nonfatal injuries, and $46 billion in economic costs in 2019, accounting for 14% of all economic costs. Speed-related crashes cost an average of $141 for every person in the United States." and that is just speed related.
You should really do something on I-81 in Maryland. I have all the info. It’s just very sad that our safety isn’t a concern of anyone in office. Accidents in the same 10 miles daily, heaviest truck route, designed in 1960s!
It's one thing to bring a traffic control system (a roundabout/traffic circle) into being but it's a whole other issue to educate or re-educate drivers into how to navigate a roundabout and signal your intentions to a whole demographic of drivers who don't understand the need to signal anything. The U.K., from whence I came in the early 90s, has a huge number of roundabouts and people understand that you need to a) slow down and yield to traffic already on the roundabout and b) signal your intentions as you enter the roundabout (right signal = first exit/no signal until opposite first exit = second exit/left signal until second exit when that transitions into a right signal opposite the second exit). Bearing in mind that there's a seeming lack of interest among some drivers in signaling anything - even a lane-change on a freeway - the adoption of roundabouts/traffic circles would seem to require a massive re-education of drivers who have grown-up with few to any roundabouts/traffic circles. Yes, roundabouts are a good thing in that they minimize the stops and starts necessitated by traffic signals and they will allow reductions in journey times as you won't have to sit at a red-light for eons caused by poor phase calculations by a DOT engineer.
What about taxing cars by their weight? The heaviest cars do the most damage to the roads. Which such a tax the ones doing the most damage will be paying the most for the roads maintenance. Not only is this fair, it also incentives people to driving lighter cars, reducing the damage to the roads.
This is what they did, but there were complaints that professional truckers would have to pay too much, so they added reductions for trucks. And then the car industry started producing huge cars (SUVs and pickups) classified as trucks for regular people. Car industry is also lobbying against light cars, in particular the small pickups from Japan and other countries, claiming they're not as safe. But the US definition of a safe car does not include anything outside the car. Doesn't matter if it's prone to mowing down children they can't see, as long as the occupants aren't injured. Much of the rest of the world also include safety of whatever you accidentally hit.
@AnotherDuck The official traffic safety data does not say "it is most likely." Where did you get that idea? There is really no difference between getting hit by a1000 pound vehicle, a 2000 pound vehicle, or a 4000 pound vehicle. In all three scenarios, you die.
Roundabouts are a sort of mixed bag, undoubtedly safer on rural roads than uncontrolled intersections, or intersections with stoplights. However, in urban centers they have a dubious effect on pedestrian safety given cars don't stop, plus spacial issues.
Image 1t 4:17 shows a dealy situation for bicyclists: motorists forced to turn right from the left lane so far to the left that bicyclists are outside the field of view of their rear-view mirrors. Two bicyclists killed in Cambridge, massachusetts in situation like this, summer, 2024.
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1k likes in 3 hours is crazy :0
How is this comment a day old when the video is 5 hours old
@@UmutPotato You can schedule a video to be posted at a specific time, so this video along with this comment were probably uploaded a day ago and scheduled to be posted later.
Sure is nice to already live in the Utopia of street design. You could join us here, in the Netherlands, by emigrating. We have plenty of space left for refugees from the US of A...
I can't stand roundabouts!! People need to stop trying to make the US more like Europe, if I wanted European stuff, I'd go to Europe! Stop trying to make it like that here. I don't care if you say it's "better". I like things the way they are here.
I'm a part of the USDOT discretionary grants team. These videos are such a good explainer on why we need programs like this. Thanks for all you do to inform the public, it helps us a lot! Hope we can keep pushing forward one project at a time.
As a young person, it's really exciting watching this urbanism meme take off in the u.s. but im curious if its had any effect on executive branch policy. Has there been a change in language/priorities internally over the last few years?
@@owenelliott5742 lots of young people at DOT too! I would argue it feeds into each other. Public interest will influence policy direction, policy direction will lead to funding towards public interests. It becomes cyclical that way.
Thank you! Appreciate the work you are doing as well!
@@owenelliott5742 I would say it really works both ways. Public interest in these efforts and Congressional commitments to provide funding for it sort of feed off each other. If the United States is happy with the outcomes from this major investment, I think it's more likely we'll see a continuation of this funding. But it also takes Congress to get the money out in the first place, and put it in front of the public to decide. In a perfect world, executive branch priorities reflect that of the people.
@@owenelliott5742 meme?
It is a good day when Streetcraft uploads!
Fax
@@bostoncelticsfan07sounds gay
Yes, I agree x7
Facts
As a vocal, opinionated teenager, I got onto a citizen's advisory board for the local transportation commission. At that point in time, the county had just purchased the various private operators that had chaotically served different routes. I got out roadmaps (gas stations used to give them out) and patched together our county. Agonizing over this for a few months, making observations on where I saw lots of people needing to go, I sketched out a route system to best serve the area. Our committee submitted it to the commission. A name change and 20 years later, that pretty much turned out to be what the system became. Of course, over 20 years, that was horribly outdated. Now, 30 more years later, I'm an old man and while this is one of the most advanced areas of the country and the transit system has made major improvements, it is still at least 20 years behind the needs. Progress happens slowly.
Why should it be so slow when citizens and their kids are faced with these issues year after year
Top tier quality stuff, mate. Thank you for putting these things in a neutral way that makes them much more approachable to everyone. My biggest fear about these things in my own country is that people think insisting on better public transit and road infrastructure is something someone from one party or the other would do. So seeing examples of how to present these topics in a neutral way like in your videos helps me have these discussions in my life in a more effective way as well 🤗
It's not "neutral" if you start with the idea that things are wrong and need fixing. And by fixing, I specifically mean "making things less pleasant for drivers"
It's not like all innovations are bad, roundabouts are faster and more efficient than stopsigns and 2-lane stoplights. However, cutting the road surface in half for 'traffic calming' just pisses everyone off.
@@Motoko_UrashimaZero traffic deaths in seven years in Hoboken, NJ makes those types of changes seem worth it. Usually there is a ton of local support for traffic calming. People that don't like it tend to live further away from where the changes are being proposed, but would be fine with similar initiatives in their own neighborhoods.
@@Motoko_Urashimaalso, who do you know that loves congested and dangerous roads that are crumbling? It's a fact that much of our infrastructure is in dire need of fixing, not an opinion. Thousands of people are literally dying because of these issues. And things are probably worse than we realize. Your take reminds me of that Monty Python scene where the guy gets all his limbs hacked off and claims it's just a flesh wound.
@@Motoko_Urashima if you do it in the right way: it isn't taking away road surface from cars, it's making the roads safer for all people not just (car) drivers.
if you narrow the streets you also need to build other options or improve those options, like cycling, walking or public transport.
this will mean that a percentage of drivers will switch to those options, because those options are now useful and safe to use.
and in turn that means less cars on the road, and those fewer cars have plenty of space on the narrowed road.
Agreed
This is everything I preach! In my hometown Rochester, NY we removed half of a sunken highway that was 8-10 lanes wide. It successfully attracted new businesses, increased affordable housing, resulted in re-connected neighborhoods, and so much more. It was so successful, we're ripping out the other half of the highway. This will result in complete removal of the moat that surrounded our downtown and choked off the center city.
Grew up in Rochester, moved away in '94...
The inner loop could hardly be considered a "highway" It was too short, it was just plain unnecessary. I used to live on S union 30 years ago, hardly anyone used it when it was there. the plan to remove it was on the books well before all this current environmental trend.
Activists are just jumping on board trying to claim it has something to do with heir causes.
It was always a useless road that we had second thoughts on from almost day one.
Great to hear that! I'm from Australia but visited Rochester over 20 years ago. I liked it!
Rochester has bled off many once good paying jobs it had. Eastman - Kodak for instance. Suspect the city itself is steadily losing population due to costs, inflation, property tax, and weather. Have met three ex upstate New Yorkers in my small area in the southwest.
Seeing the rural adaptations of roundabouts is nice, since most other urbanism channels focus on urban cities.
Roundabouts are great on low-volume roads. Which is why rural amd suburban roads are better candidates.
True but rural people need to move to urban areas. The suburbs can't justify themselves and neither can rural living. It costs too much to subsidize the wanton wasteful spending it takes to maintain these types of living.
@@ElyonDominus Suburbs shouldn't count as rural. Suburban and rural are two different things entirely. My Dad grew up in a rural area, he was about halfway between two towns for most of his childhood and there was literally nothing for miles that wasn't a farm house. Areas like that can be fixed, they won't be contributing more than they take in terms of taxes, but generally, they produce other things.
Suburbs though have no value to them other than as a place to live when not work. I recently finally understood the term "bedroom community." It's literally where people sleep after they come home from working in town.
@@ElyonDominusI had to double take when I saw you said that. No, people in rural areas do not need to move into cities, I live out in the country and I wouldn't trade it for the world. It's a far better way to live than to be stuck up in a noise apartment with people who hate your guts for no reason and no outdoor space. I never thought there was anyone dumb enough to say rural people need to move into cities. But that does tell me you're brainwashed and would be the first to succumb to a communist takeover. Think about what happened to China over the last 100 years.
@@titaniumvideos1039 China lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty in the last 50 years. Is that what you meant?
What about fixing zoning laws so people can live closer to their work, and providing public transport so less people have to drive?
Yes, and that definitely needs to be a piece of it. Around here we've had folks talking about "urban villages" for decades, but it turns out that it takes a lot of time and effort to get the zoning close enough and for the changes to actually happen. And, it gets even harder when companies closer grocery stores in an effort to save money through consolidation as you really do need more than one grocery store in reasonable proximity to wherever people are living. .
Unfortunately I live in TX where it seems that changes like these won't happen in my lifetime, if ever!
Zoning laws are not a problem. They do not need to be "fixed."
@@Matthew_Loutnerthat's a pretty broad claim to make. I'm sure there are examples of zoning laws that even you would agree need fixing. Do you think the status quo in San Francisco with some of the strictest zoning laws is the way things should be? At the very least there is room for improvement.
@@DizzyDiddy No zoning laws need to be fixed. It is a very simple matter to go before the zoning board and request a zone change for the lot you want to build on.
Or a zoning variance.
Or a zoning waiver.
Or a non-conforming use.
Only people who do not know anything about building say this stuff.
4:54 As a rural Michigan resident, these improvements are actively happening. Since 2022, several unorthodox intersections have been transformed into roundabouts, and more recently, last month, a section of road just outside a small town near me was completely torn out and replaced with a new base, new asphalt, and curbs. The previous condition of the road was beyond repair, as it hasn't been properly fixed in at least 40 years, and it probably has never been redone since it was first paved. It feels unreal to drive on now, being so smooth as opposed to rocky and bumpy due to the patches and potholes of years prior. Hang tight, change is happening!!!
Michigander here. I've been loving all of the roundabouts that are being installed in the Metro Detroit area and surrounding suburbs.
Although if you're part of any local groups on Facebook or otherwise, you'll still see a lot of people who are anti-roundabout, and the only reason I can think of why they would feel this way is that they are resistant to change.
I do feel like Michigan could've done a better job of raising public awareness for roundabouts and for a lot of the highway construction projects that are happening. Seems like this all just happened suddenly and they have everything everywhere ripped up all at once.
Raising public awareness and installing better signage (even if temporary) on how to navigate new intersections and construction would go a long way. I've seen lack of awareness become a particularly hot issue when it comes to merging traffic as a result of lane closures. This has created lots of dangerous circumstances with people blocking lanes and not allowing people to merge because they feel like they are being slighted when people try to use the entirety of a lane up to the merge point.
Anyways, I'm glad to see that progress is being made. It hasn't exactly been the smoothest of implementations, but at least we're finally trying to do something progressive here.
I want to offer a correction precisely because I like that this channel distinguishes itself from all the other "urbanist" channels in its positivity and in discussing how things get done, rather than the usual complaining that every other channel does, and hope you keep going with what makes this channel so much better than others.
When talking about pre-automobile streets, it is NOT true that they were "designed for everyone". For one, they were usually not designed at all (beyond laying out a street grid and street widths), and secondly, they were not spaces "for everyone". Aside from obvious issues of their time, they were also crowded and dangerous, just as much then as now. Tram and carriage accidents were habitual (just look up the origin of the "Dodgers" name or death of Antoni Gaudi), rail tracks had (and have) the same destructive impacts that freeways have now, and cities were walkable purely in a functional sense, and out of necessity. My point is, we should be careful not to romanticize the past, because it paints the false idea that planning and designing cities has made them worse / was a mistake. A more accurate description would be to say that streets and roads have not been designed with enough care and when combined with automobile dependency has resulted in cities not seeing the improvements that could've come had we done a better job. That is, we should've had more and better planning.
Anyway great video
There are many historical places in Europe where the street layout hasn't changed much/at all since before the car, and it usually works very well. In my city, the main street never had cars on it, but since the 1880s it had streetcars, which were now converted into modern trams that serve the entire city. It's very quiet and safe, much better than the other streets in the area which are open to cars. It gets pretty busy, but because people walk/take the tram and don't drive there, it's very comfortable. The rail corridor in my city is also much better integrated into the urban environment than the highway, as it is smaller (6 tracks instead of 6-8 lanes) and doesn't have massive interchanges that take up tons of space. So while your comment holds some truth, the streets of old are still better than most of the modern stuff according to my experience, and I would take a rail corridor over an elevated highway any day.
The roads were not designed for everyone. They were designed for horses, carriages, walking, and delivery wagons (the origin of the name and Union, called the Teamsters, who now drive trucks and tractor-trailers. The automation was grafted onto that equine transportation model. Great video which I shared with my cousin who is on a transportation committee in local government.
Add one more extra lane, and that sure will fix it.
Nope won’t be fixed
@@LCRAVIAT1ON (that’s the joke)
There are times when it is needed. It’s not either or.
Extra lanes for things other than private motor vehicles might actually help, unlike facile jokes.
@@TheLuckyBugs oh😭
I love the way he went straight to the point no bs no intros no hellos just straight to the video
My city (In Maryland) just installed a diverging diamond. It's the best decision the city has made in years. 2 intersections that could take up to a half hour to get through during rush hour has ZERO congestion now, ever. Also, way less accidents. The old intersections were very dangerous. Extra lanes were not added in the process. 2 lanes in each direction before, and 2 lanes in each direction after. We've also installed tons of traffic circles, and aside from the few people that have no idea how a traffic circle works, it definitely keeps traffic moving vs multiple roads all taking turns at a 4 way stop.
I *thought* you guys called them traffic circles. As someone from the UK, it was weird hearing an American calling them roundabouts.
@@noobling8313 roundabouts is the vernacular here
@@noobling8313why do you insist on calling the front of a car where the engine is a thing that women settling the plains in the 1800s in the US and other areas wore? Just saying. We have way more differences than which side of the pond we are on in our language.
Absolutely love this kind of content, there isn’t much content online about traffic engineering and design, let alone high quality content like this.
Just curious, what software do you use to create 2-D road designs?
The problem with roundabout/rotaries vs traffic signals is people are still not slowing down. A rotary near me was removed because people were still entering it at high speed. Instead of a traditional 4 way intersection it was replaced with sharp 90 degree turns and traffic lights. This forces people to stop.
streetcraft i love you please dont die
If the roads don't change, he might
I want to say that he is not suicidal or deadly sick.
Lol
Fantastic video. As a transportation engineer I have to say you nailed it. Your video captures how the system works, why it can be challenging, and the most effective ways individuals can make a difference. Especially if you live in a city, please vote in local elections and go to public meetings! Best things you can do!
Residents: “change is urgent, change is necessary, so long as nothing has to change to make change happen” -my neighborhood association (NOT an HOA thank GOD).
I’m a municipal roadway design project manager and story of my life right now. Like a roadway designer meets Abbott and Costello.
I should say though the lions share of my projects go smoothly and supportive of modernizing and “completing” streets inclusive of traffic calming and multimodal.
Well, guess what, Mr Bureaucrat,..... YOU work for US!!!!
If you don't like our complaints, then get another job.
Respect the nimby, bureaucrats.
3:52 I know 3 roundabouts in my area on a rural highway within 3 miles of each other. They were built in the past 10 years and have curves leading up to them so drivers slow down. There are also good sidewalks for future development
I’ve started uploading my videos on different highways in the Dallas/Fort Worth metropolitan area, and the online presentations from these meetings is exactly where I get my info on projects. It’s super useful for anyone that wants to know what’s going on near your area
Loving your videos because your videos aren’t “car bad, booo, spend trillions upon trillions of dollars to completely rebuild the continent and ban cars internationally.” You explain that this isn’t feasible and show that we don’t need to completely replace cars, we need to change how drivers interact with each other, and with people outside of cars. Looking forward to seeing more from you!
I'm actually from France and I drove in Hoboken, compared to NY or along the I-95 to Washington. It's a real pleasure to drive there. It's beautiful and you feel safe driving around!
Thank you Streetcraft for making a video on how to craft streets.
This is exactly the type of thing I've been hoping for in an urban planning channel! It's great that you not only give actionable advice, but also explain what it might look like to attend local meetings, etc. This is very helpful!
We finally have a face behind the voice! 🎉
He’s shown his face before
@@mlgdigimonokay? he never said he hasn't shown his face before.
@@h4f3ou5hit was implied tho
@@mlgdigimon oh he did?? Didn't realize that lolllll
He's cute af
I love the roundabouts in my area. It certainly eliminated traffic jams in those intersections.
A long video! Finally after multiple shorts!
I love your videos man keep up the great work
There are too many red lights when there should be stop signs or roundabouts, and none of the lights are synced with each other, I am slowly losing my mind with this every day
Stop signs are definitely worst when on a artery road though. Where I live if your going through the main way the lights are green by default and only turn red when someone is wanting to turn left or straight from an adjacent road
I think a many red lights are intentionally out of sync to create traffic which slows it down / reduces the chance of that one driver to be driving 25 over the limit but at the same time it causes everyone frustration of having to stop at almost every intersection.
We need more cool walkable towns so we don't have to drive everywhere anymore
traffic lights are a symptom of car-centric infrastructure. bicycle traffic doesnt need traffic lights
especially when some lights are five minutes long.
Why is there so much Cleveland footage here? Oh please PLEASE tell me the brains behind streetcraft is from Cleveland PLEASE. That would make my year.
I like the potholes outside of my house because its like a speed bump and then that way people actually dont go over the 40 mile per hour speed limit
A better solution is to have thinner roads.
@@weirdpuppet326An even better solution is to enforce the law far better than we are
@@MagicToenail How? With cops or cameras? Because I can almost guarantee you that no city can pay a cop to watch one street for a few hours a week and write enough tickets to get people to slow down. Cameras have the possibility to invade privacy but can actually be implemented by cash strapped local governments.
Neither enforcement solution is perfect, but thinner streets are proven to slow cars down.
@@weirdpuppet326Thin the roads and make the road lines (when there are dashes) shorter
@@N6624_s Maybe you should learn a thing or thwo from Europe. There is no cop here chasing you or writting tickets. There are smart cameras installed wich detect the speed,if you are wearing the safety belt, reads your license and check if the car have insurance and the tecnical inspection passed,etc. There is no need of cops to chase them like in the movies,because after 2-3 days,an envelop will arrive to him,with the pic,speed and the fine value. Expensive selfie,i tell you. Other type are the average speed cameras,installed at the beginning and the end of roads,wich records the licence plate,enter time and exit time. with the time and distance it calculates the average speed the car travelled,if the average speed is higher then the legal allowed,same,fine arriving in the post box. Other methods : drones with radar patrolling, police cars undercover with radar hidden in the bonnet and trunck,those are the most dangerous here, because you never know when or where you gonna meet them in traffic and make you a fashion model photo session😆
I'd like to add more local resources: specifically neighborhood associations (and HOAs, presumably). These are the places that you can often have the greatest direct impact, and often some significant indirect impact. Most neighborhood associations have city council members either in attendance, or with close communication. This provides great communication lines where it often matters the most. This can also mean a simpler and more direct public input process.
Even more local (and less policy) is just talking to your neighbors. By encouraging some of my neighbors to just get out and walk the neighborhood, I've gotten a couple of them to realize just how it feels to have an automobile drive past them, even at 20-25mph, which has affected their driving habits (at least within the neighborhood).
While roundabouts have reduced or eliminated fatalities they have greatly increased traffic collisions per insurance industry data.
Can you make a longer video on Hoboken?
This Utube channel is why Utube is great. Creating a place for people to learn.
I find street and road planning fascinating. May you find good fortune.
God this was good. You basically mentioned all the ways people can influence the process to get to better infrastructure!
I'm from Germany and have been part of a local climate group for 3 years and am now also elected into the city council. I know from my activism that simply voting is not enough, we need people that are going to meetings and giving feedback so the planners can actually do good things.
Thank you so much for giving this overview!
4:14 hey, look, it's what used to be 4th street in cleveland, and now is a pedestrian mall with a bunch of amazing restaurants and clubs (mabel's BBQ on the right, by the way...)
3:36 That is awesome that the designers also added little cut-outs in the concrete median for people exiting their driveways to turn left.
I noticed that, then thought the only thing that really would have prevented a driveway from being that close to the intersection would be the presence of a traffic light.
Let's also talk about regulating headlight brightness.
C'mon @Streetcraft, y'know the solution is one more lane. Trust me bro.
Near my home the very first SPUI in my state was built about 5 years ago. It is an amazing improvement. now a major modified SPUI is under construction on I-90 & Hwy 41 in Idaho. It is taking a while, but there really has been minimal impact on I-90 during the construction. Hwy 41 - not so much. But this will be an incredible improvement to this interchange that residents will appreciate once it is complete. For now, all I hear is the stereotypical construction gripes. I would love to see this project featured on your channel. Much has gone into the considerations for this massive project. I am impressed, in particular with the pedestrian planning.
I love your videos and cant wait for each new release.
It’s a good thing that you start with building roundabouts, here in Europe we find that they increase efficiency and decrease serious accidents. I looked closely at the peanut-shaped one at around 3:30. What it is missing is the possibility for pedestrians to cross it safely. If for example a kid from the house on the right side wants to visit kids from the other side, does it have to be brought by car, or is traffic so low, that it is safe to cross without pedestrian crossing?
The intersection of Southwestern and McKinley pkwy in Hamburg, NY is still called 7 corners by most residents in the area.
I live in the UK. There are a huge challenges with roads here too. Even basic rural roads are falling apart, full of potholes, and numerous roundabouts, traffic lights, restrictions, no parking have led to journeys taking much longer, the inability to park. Towns have ceased to serve the surrounding areas, the counties, instead they have been encouraged to see themselves as isolated entities. It becomes so difficult to visit towns that high streets are losing shops. This suits the big out of town stores, but the independent stores are closing. They are replaced by fast food restaurants as they pay more rent, than the likes of shoemakers.
One of the issues is the lack of planning the road system to ensure that the various categories of traffic can function independently of one another. An example of this is the city of Oxford. The major north/south route the A34 a dual carriage way, is a national route and even classified as a European route, yet it also serves as a bypass for Oxford city. The city is discouraging traffic from crossing the various bridges so vehicles are forced on to the ring roads which are meant to allow vehicles to connect between other major routes. So the A34 gets grid locked and traffic tries to find routes through villages.
With all of this infrastucture comes the necessity of maintenance, it appears that this is not factored in to the budgets of the various responsible authorities. Typically maintenance is not done adequately and repairs are only undertaken in the guise of a new 'project'. The UK population has grown significantly in recent decades, which has made landowners, developers, landlords very wealthy but the infrastructure has not been able to keep up with the demands, and why would it when we cannot afford to maintain what we have.
this video is great, as usual! i love that you also provided examples of safe street designs in rural communities :)
I love that I'm able to recognize a handful of intersections and roads that you used as b roll from your other videos
Happy to see your getting sponsors. You deserve it. Such great content. I love your perspective -a fellow Floridian
Most of Australia has a “roundabout first” rule. When roads are designed or updated, a roundabout is considered the first option. It is only then that they look to see whether an option better than around about would suit that particular situation, but it’s roundabout first.
Most people do not know they have to yield to cars in the roundabout. In GB and AUS, where these have been around for many years, there's lots of crashes on roundabouts, especially multi-lane roundabouts. One city that reduced crashes did it by eliminating left turns so you weren't competing with oncoming cars. The real problem is mobile phones. The NTSB says talking on your phone has the same effect as drinking. If we started charging phone accidents as DUIs, crashes would be reduced. It's easy to check without violating privacy concerns. The cell carrier could say whether you had sent or talked in the proceeding 5 minutes without ever disclosing any content.
FINALLY an urbanism video that actually tells you how to HOW to make an impact instead of just bickering and blabbering. Thank you so much! I will definitely take these into mind and try to make as much of a difference in the future. Urbanism has absolutely blown up in North America over the past several years, and with such rapid growth and passion, I can't help but feel optimistic about the future!
You want to live in a city?
@@titaniumvideos1039 Yes, also known as the correct way to live in the modern day. Suburbs are stupid. Rural areas are... fine.
@@MAL1GNANT Well, American style suburbs. European style suburbs are more like small towns. Or at least, most of the ones in my city.
We also have a serious overuse issue due to the way port fees are structured. They charge per crane "touch", which results in containers being loaded on to trucks when it would normally make more sense to use short distance cargo ships. The extra truck traffic results in extra wear on the roads.
Highways should never be widened at all and the money spent on that should be diverted to public transit. Ramp meters and tolls at peak times could be implemented to help reduce congestion as well
That sort of ignorance is why it's so hard at times to get better infrastructure. A growing city may need more lanes of traffic, you need a certain number of trucks coming and going based on the population size. There are also areas where building alternate mass transit may not be practical.
There's also issues in terms of planning where you don't always know when there's going to be some sort of change that triggers a bunch of internal migration to a region.
Sadly that's not entirely true there are cases where roads do need to be widened
@@titaniumvideos1039 name one example then? You only need to look at the Katy Freeway in Texas and see how traffic has gotten worse despite being widened multiple times
@@SmallSpoonBrigade the points you make may seem obvious but are in fact wrong. To start with, it’s much more efficient to move freight with trains rather than trucks because of economies of scale. Trucks should only be used for last mile delivery to move goods to warehouses or shops rather than across regions or the country. Also you say there are areas where building mass transit may not be practical when that isn’t true. Transit can be built anywhere. Some modes are better than others, grade separated rail that is elevated or underground is great for high frequencies and moving a lot of people in downtown areas, light rail is more suited to areas with lower density and buses can act as feeders to enable transfers or serve rural areas
@@SmallSpoonBrigade your point on planning is true but transit has always proven to be a net positive. It’s great for business as they can attract more customers, it’s great for people who can find better jobs or education, it’s great for tourism as people don’t need to rent cars and so much more. The reason why New York City is the most populous city in the country is because of it’s transit system
This mans videos brighten my day
Same here.
Also, I’m not sure where 3:37 is from?
@@JoeKline-yo7lk me neither
This is a useful video with good info on what an ordinary citizen can do to help improve roads. I plan to come back to it to remind myself to do what I can to be involved, because the way things are in my city could be improved so much.
I love your videos. I’m from the UK, where we experience the same issues regarding car-centric thinking. Our roads are fairly safe, but there’s still a long way to go. I’ve always wanted to visit the US, but I would be way too scared to ever drive your roads.
Thank you for putting actionable steps out there!
Totally new to your channel, good insight into highway design. On a side note i am cinvinced you are william osman. Youre voices are identical
I love your voice. I was so happy to see your happy face. I love your content. It's really exceptional. Thanks!
I appreciate that you discuss how we can create change. Another great video.
btw that stock photo of the kids crossing the street is in Ottawa Canada.
This video covered a lot of ground. The focus on safety is important and provides a neutral entry point to effective innovations that often get politicized. A roundabout that makes it safer for road users shouldn't be controversial. Its nice to have more and more examples to draw inspiration from, even if I live in a state and city that's been slow to consider or implement improvements like land reconfigurations, roundabouts, etc.
Very good content. Very informative and unbiased. I live in small town upstate NY and we are seeing lots of roundabouts springing up over the last decade or so in my town and many if the surrounding towns. The most congested intersection in the county got a roundabout and it is no longer a problem. If we could just get everyone to understand how they work. It's simple in my opinion but some drivers still can't handle them. Of course some drivers can't handle a 4-way stop.
Love how you jump right into the content of the video, amazing work!
I still find so much value in the historic odd five six-point intersections that I don't think we should touch them or do anything to them. In my hometown of Indianapolis we recently made a six-point intersection around about with two dead ends and it just doesn't feel the same or have the same directional historic impact.
In Washington State, we need to fix the DOT morons that think that TURNING CIRCLES are safer than a stoplight.
They've wasted a LOT of money installing those wreck CAUSERS all over the place - often on MAJOR HIGHWAYS - in the last few years.
However, this is not due to the roundabouts but to bad American drivers. They work perfectly everywhere in the world. Except in the land of ignorance and poor education. This also includes training to participate in road traffic.
I love your simple visuals they are so satisfying
These videos are really knowledgeable and i hope your channel continues to grow. I do wish some of the better videos from Tiktok were also on youtube though!
I'm glad you are trying to change and highlight the good changes in roads of the country you live in. Its a nice change compared to the average urbanist channel (being a coward and leaving, then laughing at those who are trying to make the best of the country they live in (*cough* Not Just Bikes *cough*)). I'm a car guy through and through but I understand the problem they can create, just as anything else. You've got a great thing going here, keep it up. If there are any other channels like yours I can watch I'd love to hear about them
ALL concrete curbs need to be painted in highly reflective paint to enhance visibility at night and in inclement weather... In addition, more reflective lane markers need to be used.
Impeccably done! Thank you.
LET'S GO, AMAZING NEW VID!!!!!!!!!
Finnaly a new video. Made my night lol
NORTH FLORIDA AVE in Tampa it's northern part is deadly! Once a council member Went to ask for cross walks.. True story in the hearing they said. Federal roads managed by federal, state managed by state, and county roads ... No crosswalks.. Meeting over 10years ago.
What do you think of rebuilding the train network and try to reduce the use of freight vehicles on the road. Any new commercial & industrial centres being built will need to have a train station for freight?
We need more cool, walkable towns in the US
In Maryland, they send out notifications of studies and meeting for large road projects.
He finally posted!
I think a lot of people will appreciate the guidance on how to make a difference themselves!
7:05 I didn't expect to see St. Petersburg in the video
Mr roundabout, please propose a solution to this 3-way stop that is such a cluster for locals: Sloat Blvd & Skyline Blvd, San Francisco, CA
These thumbnails are good man ✌️👊
I like this. Wish more cities would follow Hoboken NJ's example. They are following the pattern of many European Countries. I have read about many US cities refusing to look at this type of change due to our use of large Firetrucks. Due to their size, they wouldn't fit on the smaller streets.
The best is to use concrete in metropolitan areas. Roads with more traffic must become moderate access rds being wide median rds. By that minor rds at this rds must split up. By that, traffic on this minor rds must always turn right and if want to turn left ⬅️ or cross must take a tunnel. Rds with much more traffic must become express rds with complete feeder rds. This will minimize driving time for good.
At least in the US there is pleanty of space to fix the roads, you can run multiple transit corridors for the space of one seven line stroad, as well at replace those huge intersections with roundabouts to calm traffic, reduce accidents and improve traffic flow compared to timed traffix light and four way stops.
I think another thing is ring roads around areas with driver unfriendly things like hard cobble roads in pedestrian areas where vehicles are needed
I love the fact that Jordan Peterson had a meltdown on a news post about the Hoboken death rate
Jordan Peterson has a meltdown when he realizes that he has to clean his room before a zoom meeting.
MORE ROUNDABOUTS
only 3:20 in and enjoying it so far so thanks. but something just said reminded me I lived for 6 years in MI and always found it strange with people parking near junctions in the UK it is against the traffic rules to park within 10 meters (32 ft) of a junction or opposite a junction. This leaves sight lines for drivers and peds.
As was stated the fatality rate in the US is over 40k per year for about the last 10 years, this is on a par with gun deaths (but not going there) but when you look at Europe the death rates are a lot lower, but unfortunately anytime you use that as examples of how systems should be changed a lot of people shut you down.
The UK death rate on the roads is around 1k per year for a population that is 1/5th that of the US, but even if you increase the pop in line with the US that would still only lead to 5k per year not the 40+k the US has been having for the last couple of decades. Also UK and general European Pops live with higher population density, more people closer together, which should all things being equal lead to higher death rates in Europe but the opposite is true.
Across the whole of the European Union in 2022 there were 20, 653 deaths for a total population of 450 million people
in the USA for the same year there were 42,514 deaths over double that of Europe for a population of 341,534,046 people
so in Europe 0.004589555555r percent of the population killed per year
while in USA 0.012467448680 percent were killed that figure is three times higher per person risk of dying.
When you look at date related to number people who die per 100,000 USA it is almost 13 people per 100,000 (12.8)
but the UK a country it is only 2.2 people per 100,000 20% of that of the US and I am not cherry picking the UK
Finland 3.8 per 100,000
Iceland 3.8
Netherlands 3.8
Germany 3.7
Spain 3.7
Denmark 3.4
San Marino 3.2
Ireland 2.9
Sweden 2.2
Switzerland 2.2
Compared to 12.8 per 100k in the USA
And this is only looking at deaths.
The US NHTSA has on multiple occasions worked out the economic and social impact of non-fatal accidents in the US, both to individuals and to tax payers
Insurance companies have done the same
It has been worked out that the average Year in the US over $$340 Billion (yes with a B) is paid out by insurance companies to those involved in traffic accidents. Yes where there is a person at fault their insurance pays, but the knock on is to every driver as their premiums go up, it is also estimated that the average family of four in the US pays in taxes and insurance premiums an average of $4,140 per year over and above to compensate for these accidents.
NHTSA has also estimated that over 1.8 Trillion (yes with a T) is caused in economic harm to the USA by this high number of accidents (days off of work recovering, closed roads, missed trade, time spent by emergency services, damage to infrastructure. --- their report in 2020 stated "Speed-related crashes are associated with 10,192 fatalities, 498,000 nonfatal injuries, and $46 billion in economic costs in 2019, accounting for 14% of all economic costs. Speed-related crashes cost an average of $141 for every person in the United States." and that is just speed related.
Wow, so roundabouts finally, what a shock.
00:03 Cincinnati, my hometown!!
You should really do something on I-81 in Maryland. I have all the info. It’s just very sad that our safety isn’t a concern of anyone in office. Accidents in the same 10 miles daily, heaviest truck route, designed in 1960s!
Round abouts are the most insane design ever
It's one thing to bring a traffic control system (a roundabout/traffic circle) into being but it's a whole other issue to educate or re-educate drivers into how to navigate a roundabout and signal your intentions to a whole demographic of drivers who don't understand the need to signal anything. The U.K., from whence I came in the early 90s, has a huge number of roundabouts and people understand that you need to a) slow down and yield to traffic already on the roundabout and b) signal your intentions as you enter the roundabout (right signal = first exit/no signal until opposite first exit = second exit/left signal until second exit when that transitions into a right signal opposite the second exit). Bearing in mind that there's a seeming lack of interest among some drivers in signaling anything - even a lane-change on a freeway - the adoption of roundabouts/traffic circles would seem to require a massive re-education of drivers who have grown-up with few to any roundabouts/traffic circles. Yes, roundabouts are a good thing in that they minimize the stops and starts necessitated by traffic signals and they will allow reductions in journey times as you won't have to sit at a red-light for eons caused by poor phase calculations by a DOT engineer.
What about taxing cars by their weight? The heaviest cars do the most damage to the roads. Which such a tax the ones doing the most damage will be paying the most for the roads maintenance. Not only is this fair, it also incentives people to driving lighter cars, reducing the damage to the roads.
This is fair
This is what they did, but there were complaints that professional truckers would have to pay too much, so they added reductions for trucks. And then the car industry started producing huge cars (SUVs and pickups) classified as trucks for regular people.
Car industry is also lobbying against light cars, in particular the small pickups from Japan and other countries, claiming they're not as safe. But the US definition of a safe car does not include anything outside the car. Doesn't matter if it's prone to mowing down children they can't see, as long as the occupants aren't injured. Much of the rest of the world also include safety of whatever you accidentally hit.
@@AnotherDuck Generally speaking, American motorists try to avoid "mowing down children."
@@Matthew_Loutner They just choose the vehicles where it's the most likely.
@AnotherDuck The official traffic safety data does not say "it is most likely." Where did you get that idea?
There is really no difference between getting hit by a1000 pound vehicle, a 2000 pound vehicle, or a 4000 pound vehicle. In all three scenarios, you die.
Roundabouts are a sort of mixed bag, undoubtedly safer on rural roads than uncontrolled intersections, or intersections with stoplights. However, in urban centers they have a dubious effect on pedestrian safety given cars don't stop, plus spacial issues.
Image 1t 4:17 shows a dealy situation for bicyclists: motorists forced to turn right from the left lane so far to the left that bicyclists are outside the field of view of their rear-view mirrors. Two bicyclists killed in Cambridge, massachusetts in situation like this, summer, 2024.
peanut roundabout to preserve nearby homes 💯 love it
What software do you use to re-draw roads
Roundabout DOES NOT MEAN STOP!!! In Europe RAs work well as drivers blend and cooperate.
Keep up the great work!