The best thing about confusion

On my way back from lunch I had to cross one the many Airline Highway intersections in Ascension Parish. These intersecting roads are only two lane. Meaning people turning right cannot do so on red because they have to wait for people going straight. People going straight have to wait for left hand turners to yield oncoming traffic. Thus a standstill.

I hail from the German-Midwest. I like rules. I was taught that society functions very efficiently when rule following takes place. This is why I hate traffic in Louisiana. No one likes the rules; they don’t follow the rules; and the rules are rarely enforced. This leaves traffic efficiency extremely poor. Well actually non-existent. Merging sucks. Passing lanes sucks. Left turns sucks. Heck, why does Louisiana even have the interstate highways. Rule following is a necessity. High speeds require trust in the other driver. Signalization, consistency, and awareness become a matter of death. Not a matter of rule following.

Honestly, the best traffic situation is the French Quarter. Every intersection functions in its own messed up confusion. Is a car running the stop sign? Are there pedestrians entering the crosswalk? Who has the right of way? Why can’t they replace the street name signs? Has anyone ever considered bending the stop sign back since the hurricane? All the sudden this mass of confusion makes sense. It forces you to pay attention. While you may have the right of way, you can never be too sure that everyone knows. It may take longer to go a mile or two, but everyone feels safer.

So this is also why I love the intersections at Airline Highway in Ascension Parish. If everyone followed the rules, no one would get across. But with strategic maneuvers, we can all transverse the intersection in the short signal duration.

These systems go in the face of my German roots.

But even Europe has begun to recognize why this pattern works. England began removing wayfinding and signage in their central cities, thinking that more confusion for the driver requires attention. A simple concept that no driver wants to face. Yet as a relocatee to Louisiana, I think this concept would function extremely well.  So my idea? Remove all interstate highway, signage, signalization, road lines, etc. I bet our insurance rates drop overnight. (Which, by the way, are coincidently three times higher than my Germany-Midwestern Indiana rates). 

CATS protests LSU competitor | Home | The Advocate — Baton Rouge, LA

CATS protests LSU competitor | Home | The Advocate — Baton Rouge, LA:

I've been one to support CATS... but this doesn't make any sense. CATS went through the bidding process with LSU and lost. So they are now competing with Tiger Trails. Maybe I don't understand how the Federal Transit Administration regulates transit. But still. This lawsuit doesn't seem right. CATS doesn't have enough funding to get through the year. How would they have provided a free route from LSU to downtown? Even if they could have added a route at regular fare, why haven't they done so? I figured it was because of funding limitations. This lawsuit makes me think they aren't providing these links because of a lack or foresight.

I think CATS should learn from this experience and decide to run more evening routs around entertainment (aka. until 3am). Maybe one from Mid City to downtown? Maybe Mid City to Campus? North BR to downtown? Southern routes? If funding is a problem, why can't they approach businesses in these areas (like they did downtown) and see what they can work out? Many smaller cities in which I have lived run routes similar because bars will subsidize the service.

Just sayin'.

Streetlife Quandary

 The predicament of that thing called streetlife. Having people on the street makes a place lively, safe, and overall fun. Yet in the automotive world we would rather enjoy the sustaining 68 degrees in our car; or the perceived short walk to the store, if the parking lot is in the front of the building. This, in turn, kills streetlife and makes a 'place' dead.

It reminds me of the commercial area near my college campus. While only two blocks long I had a place to get groceries, toiletries, alcohol, fiveish bars, two coffee shops, and four restaurants. This in turn brought people out, and I could sustain myself for the week. At the same time it felt safe. So safe in fact that during my Grad School there were five shooting deaths on campus. This was s tragedy for such a small city and university. So much so that the police stepped up patrols, undercut underage drinking, and began raiding all kinds of house parties. In fact, there were several reports of attempted armed robbery to pedestrians. It all sounds scary. But the student bodies response? Police Yourselves! Yes, a mockery to the law enforcement, but at the same time nightlife almost increased. With the eradication of frat houses and house parties, more people would come to the Village for the night. This included several attempts by the coffee shops to host all age events (because bars can’t allow entrance to under 21). So while crime was seemingly on the rise, the streetlife only got better.

Now the Munice “strip” isn’t attractive. It’s actually downright ugly. The buildings are plain and simple (if not falling apart). Absolutely no public investment to the streetscape, unless you count the banner that Ball State placed where the strip meets the campus. But two of the ugliest parking lots sat in this area. So, I don’t think it counted.

Why was the streetlife so great? While people are so fixated on looks, that’s not what eventually puts people on the street. It’s substance. That’s why all the Asian markets are full; and Time Square functions. I agree that the public needs to invest in the infrastructure. But people on the road amplifies more people to the road. It’s not the look. It’s not crime. It’s the people.

Take Government Street in Baton Rouge. Residence says they love the area and want it to survive. Yet complain that crime is too high and the City hasn’t invested in sidewalks, roads, signals, etc. While I agree with all of that, those are the minor problems. The biggest problem is that people refuse to partake. Within a half mile of me are numerous supermarkets, drugstores, restaurants, bars, schools, a gym, and coffee shop. My walk score is an urban Mecca. What’s it missing? The people!

Streetsblog Capitol Hill » Report: Get Out of the Highway-Obsessed Eisenhower Era

Streetsblog Capitol Hill » Report: Get Out of the Highway-Obsessed Eisenhower Era

The Federal tax to spend ratio for highways has always been disproportional. So there needs to be a solutions, especially since discretionary funding is being cut. However, if the Federal government gets out of highway spending, politicians on both sides of the isle will cry foul. Federal funding has always been critical for our nation's highway infrastructure.

The solutions suggested in the report are fair. Yet will never fly in the political atmosphere. It's amazing how many people don't realize their gas tax comes no where near to paying for the road infrastructure (as noted in the report). The highways system is way more costly than most people realize.

The sad thing is even if the highway problem got solved, other forms of transportation aren't anywhere near to a solution. The populous wouldn't support any tax raise for highways, let alone transit.

And our infrastructure crumbles, traffic becomes worse, and we become more and more dependent on one form of transportation. 

Letter: We pay for our suburban lifestyle | Opinion | The Advocate — Baton Rouge, LA

Letter: We pay for our suburban lifestyle | Opinion | The Advocate — Baton Rouge, LA

Love the comments pertaining to the dangers of urban Baton Rouge. While I don't live within the exact areas being discussed (Baton Rouge does have some of the higher murder rates within this country)... I do live within a mile of these areas, and my street isn't short of street solicitors and the occasional gun shot. Yet, I walk daily. In fact, the only time I use my car is for my commute to work. Imagine. Five years later, I'm still alive.

I also love the fact that it is totally incomprehensible for people of all ages to walk for groceries, etc.... when it was the only form of transportation less than 75 years ago. Imagine what they did thousands of years before the car?!? Imagine the 8 million people in New York today; and the countless other urban cities (including our very own New Orleans). How are we not loosing millions of people a day to shootings, heat stroke, and overall depression because of people's urban lifestyle.

I'm OK with people saying that they would rather live in the suburbs. But it's a lifestyle choice. It has nothing to do with safety. So don't rationalize my tax dollars being used to keep yourself safe.