Road space usage - cars vs bus

daymobrew

I found this amusing series of photos comparing car and bus road space usage.

rubadub

Class, and people still wont let a bus pull out in front of them, equivalent to letting 100 cars out. I'd like to see them doing the dart in the morning, 50 people per square metre!

spank_inferno

thats a great link!

What a country we have that despite this its still better to go about by car

cast_iron

Great link daymo.

I wonder did they get 35 actors to squat in the middle of the road for that...:rolleyes:

Sad Professor

Great find. I agree completely

Cabaal

Thats just plane bloody stupid when you lay it out that way,

"Cars! what a bloody waste of space"

Slice

Cabaal: Cars! what a bloody waste of space

err, yea - that's about right.

daymobrew

rubadub wrote:

Class, and people still wont let a bus pull out in front of them, equivalent to letting 100 cars out.

AFAIK in San Jose they brought in a law that you had to let buses pull out.
I wish drivers would realise that there is nothing to lose in being nice - the bus is going to pull in again a few hundred metres up the road, at which point it can be easily overtaken.
On my bike I've been delayed behind buses plenty of times because drivers just won't let the bus out. It has been unsafe for me to overtake the bus so I've waited. Very frustrating.

The Swordsman

Very clever

However, look at it this way.

Those 35 people are heading to 35 different destinations. They are the only 35 people going to those destinations. So you take them out of their cars and put them onto 35 buses. You then have 35 buses with one passenger only.

Result: Bloody Mayhem.

They would be better staying in their cars

Letting a bus pull out is equivalent to letting 100 (Is it true that 86% of statistics are made up on the spot) cars out. I let five cars out this morning and I was delayed by five minutes. I cant afford to be delayed by 100 minutes. That's why I'll never let a bus out

daymobrew

The Swordsman wrote:

I let five cars out this morning and I was delayed by five minutes.

Can you please explain how you were delayed by 5 mins? Did the 5 cars (let out in one go?) cause you to miss a few sets of lights?

mickoneill30

The Swordsman wrote:

Those 35 people are heading to 35 different destinations. They are the only 35 people going to those destinations. So you take them out of their cars and put them onto 35 buses. You then have 35 buses with one passenger only.

Result: Bloody Mayhem.

I think if you look at the traffic on any morning in Dublin most cars seem to be heading the same direction. Obviously not all to the exact same location but close enough.
I used to be guilty it too. I used to drive into work until I lost my car parking spot. Now I take the bus. I takes me the same time from door to door, I get a snooze on the way in too (and it's waaaay cheaper).

The Swordsman

If you look at the site where the photographs originally appeared http://www.denvergov.com/Blueprint_Denver/1323photo761.asp
the point made is by getting 35 drivers out of their cars that it would free up space on the road for other road users (including other car drivers). I can fully see the advantages in that.

The link in the first post goes to a page where it takes the same photos and adds the statement 'Now, who was the problem, again?' implying that car drivers are the problem.

IMO this conclusion was too simplistic and all I was trying to do (seems I failed) was to use a bit of humour to counter it. (Note the smilies )

I don't know how many cars I let out on Friday or how long it took and I don't really believe that it would delay me 100 minutes by letting a bus out. I just thought the stat about the bus and 100 cars was ridiculous.

Mick - I'm glad to see that your switch from car to public transport has worked for you. I've recently done the opposite because public transport was not working for me. I would have no problem switching back if there was an adequate improvement in the public transport system.