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Superblocks: how Barcelona is taking city streets back from cars

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Re: Superblocks: how Barcelona is taking city streets back from cars

#91

Post by pmontra »

vosper wrote: post #24
ghaff wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can have cruise control on a stick. I rarely use it but my manual car has it. On most (barring long climbs and descents) freeways with free moving traffic, you pretty much put the stick in top gear and leave it. The big win with an automatic is stop and go traffic.

Are there limitations to cruise control on manual? Presumably if it's a true manual gearbox the car can't shift automatically, so if you were to encounter an upward slope that required a down-shift what happens?

My old car had one. It disengaged when I touched brakes or the clutch. I could accelerate and it felt back to the programmed speed when I left the pedal. It never shifted, obviously.

Re: Superblocks: how Barcelona is taking city streets back from cars

#92

Post by klausjensen »

aianus wrote: post #82
collyw wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Chile they have "collectivos" which are basically taxis that go on set routes, more like buses, and charges are closer to bus fares.

Collectivos are awesome (used them every day in Mexico). It blows my mind that countries we consider 'third-world' have such superior public transportation options.

Never heard of that before, that is awesome.

If I had to guess, why it is found in third world countries, not in first world countries, I would point to cost of labour and energy.

It matters if the driver is paid 3$/hr or 20$/hr, and if the petrol is 2$ or 7$ per gallon.

Re: Superblocks: how Barcelona is taking city streets back from cars

#93

Post by justincormack »

njharman wrote: post #36

Even before the superblock idea, that first picture of existing Barcelona blocks looks so massively better than anything I've seen in USA. I looked hard, twice, before reading article cause I was sure it was is was artist rendering rather than reality. So, uniform, dense, but no sky scrapers, corners cut off, wide wide streets, wide sidewalks, interior (to block) "courtyards". I want to move to Barcelona!

It is starting to get a good tech scene I believe. Lovely place to visit certainly.

Re: Superblocks: how Barcelona is taking city streets back from cars

#94

Post by archagon »

njharman wrote: post #36

Even before the superblock idea, that first picture of existing Barcelona blocks looks so massively better than anything I've seen in USA. I looked hard, twice, before reading article cause I was sure it was is was artist rendering rather than reality. So, uniform, dense, but no sky scrapers, corners cut off, wide wide streets, wide sidewalks, interior (to block) "courtyards". I want to move to Barcelona!

Many will disagree, but: having visited a large number of European capital cities over the past few years, I found this Barcelona neighborhood to be among the most boring. Every walk felt pretty much the same and it was easy to get lost if you weren't constantly reading the signs. Give me an insane, chaotic city center any day!

Re: Superblocks: how Barcelona is taking city streets back from cars

#95

Post by jacquesm »

chris_7 wrote: post #86
jacquesm wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's one of the nicest cities in Europe but the Spanish economy is still so far down that many Spanish people with marketable skills are to be found all over Europe.

Would people from Barcelona not object to being called "Spanish"?

Last I checked Barcelona was still in Spain. If they object I'm fine with it but I'm not going to 'tune' my comments to whether or not someone may or may not be offended when for the rest of the world 'Catalonia' is solidly part of Spain.

Frisians are Dutch too, and Welsh are British and so on.

All of the above are also Europeans...

Re: Superblocks: how Barcelona is taking city streets back from cars

#96

Post by slight »

Someone wrote: post #76

Counterpoint: http://behoovingmoving.com/2016/08/06/superblock-hopscotch-i... : "The new bollards that will be planted to stop cars cutting through the middle of the superblocks won’t stop that menace of the Mediterranean, the motor scooter rider" "In Barcelona two out of three streets will be easy to cross, but make a mistake when crossing the third" I think this is a worthy experiment, but I wouldn't roll it out ac…

There are plenty of scooters in Barcelona but honestly I've never noticed generally worse behaviour from them than anyone else, except maybe starting off from lights early, but it seems everyone is guilty of that here.

Aside from that however, as a cyclist from the UK, I've been very pleasantly surprised by the lack of aggressive driving since I've been living here. I very very rarely feel threatened by other road users on my bike, except by Bicing (city-wide bike rental/'sharing' scheme) users, and I think that's just because Bicing is used by people that don't cycle regularly so aren't very experienced.

Also there are already an increasing number of semi-pedestrianised streets in the centre of town and they work fine, cars, scooters and bikes go down them too but very slowly and usually only if they really need to because there are faster routes if you're through traffic.

Re: Superblocks: how Barcelona is taking city streets back from cars

#97

Post by dalke »

mtone wrote: post #80
jsprogrammer wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've never seen an Uber/Lyft vehicle I could stand in.

But standing in a bus is part of the worst case scenario.

Really? Sometimes I want to stand.

Buses are also great if you have a stroller. Or are in a group.

Most buses (at least where I live) are wheelchair accessible.

From a utility standpoint, if I have to stand then there are 30 or more others in the same bus. That corresponds to 20+ individual cars. The high density lines go every 10 minutes, with an accordion bus. Assuming worst-case standing is frequent then there's something like 60+ people, meaning that one bus is equivalent to at least 40 cars.

Bearing in mind there's already other street traffic.

In other words, the worst case scenario for a bus means that the worst case scenario for the alternative leads is more street congestion.

Re: Superblocks: how Barcelona is taking city streets back from cars

#98

Post by portlander12345 »

massysett wrote: post #48
jurip wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd expect the total automobile traffic to be reduced, rather than all of it concentrating on the through streets. Making driving less convenient will push people who don't have to drive to leave their cars at home and go with public transport, bike or foot instead.

It can also do a number of other things: * cause people not to travel at all, thus keeping money in their pockets rather than spending it to benefit the economy * cause people who do not live in the city to drive to other places--places where their preferred mode of transportation is accommodated--to work or transact business * cause people who live in the city to leave due to increasing frustration with their inabil…

I think you'll find that billions of people get around without cars just fine.

Re: Superblocks: how Barcelona is taking city streets back from cars

#99

Post by faragon »

jacquesm wrote: post #95
chris_7 wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would people from Barcelona not object to being called "Spanish"?

Last I checked Barcelona was still in Spain. If they object I'm fine with it but I'm not going to 'tune' my comments to whether or not someone may or may not be offended when for the rest of the world 'Catalonia' is solidly part of Spain. Frisians are Dutch too, and Welsh are British and so on. All of the above are also Europeans...

Most people in Barcelona are not "pro-independence". Most "pro-independence" people come from rural areas, or small cities. Industrial and touristic areas of Catalan region of Spain are not nationalists/separatists. That sentiment comes much like in other regions, because of the crisis. P.S. I live in Barcelona.

Re: Superblocks: how Barcelona is taking city streets back from cars

#100

Post by adrianN »

dalke wrote: post #97
mtone wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But standing in a bus is part of the worst case scenario.

Really? Sometimes I want to stand. Buses are also great if you have a stroller. Or are in a group. Most buses (at least where I live) are wheelchair accessible. From a utility standpoint, if I have to stand then there are 30 or more others in the same bus. That corresponds to 20+ individual cars. The high density lines go every 10 minutes, with an accordion bus. Assuming worst-case standing is frequent then there's s…

You can also have self-driving busses, you know.
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