Drachten, a Dutch town of 50,000, has removed nearly all of its traffic lights, converting major intersections to roundabouts and counting on residents to employ simple courtesy at other intersections. Amazingly, anarchy works. Treehugger.com reports that the new system has “eliminated dangerous crashes and road fatalities and created a surge in bicycle and pedestrian traffic.” (Hat tip to Jim Duncan for pointing me to this story.)
Fascinating. This anecdote invites an examination of the role of culture in creating/mitigating traffic congestion. Could the Drachten experience be replicated elsewhere, or is it something unique to an orderly and courteous people such as the Dutch?
As a thought experiment, try transplanting the experiment to the United States. My suspicion is that it would not work as well — although the degree to which it would flop would vary from region to region. Residents of different regions country show more politesse than do others. I have found that drivers are far more courteous here in Richmond, for instance, than in Northern Virginia, and I would argue that our roads are marginally less congested as a result.
An example: When I drive downtown during morning rush hour, I go through an intersection where Huguenot Road and River Road join to become Cary Street. Two lanes merge into one, creating a predictable traffic back-up. What makes the situation tolerable is the courtesy that drivers display to one another. It is very rare that you see aggressive drivers muscling ahead of other cars to move ahead one extra slot. There is an unspoken rule that drivers in both lanes alternate entry into the single lane on Cary Street. The effect is like a zipper closing — very smooth, not stressful. That experience is typical of the motorist “culture” in the region.
Contrast that with the Washington area. There I find much more of an every-man-for-himself approach to driving. Displays of courtesy are mistaken for timidity. Hesitation will get you run off the road. I find the much of the motorist behavior to be aggressive, rude, even belligerent. NoVa drivers probably take me for a wimp.
Another example: What happens in your community when a storm knocks out the electric lights? Normal traffic rules regarding rights of way do not apply — people fall back upon their natural instincts. Traffic usually continues unimpeded along one road until a break, then it continues unimpeded on the intersecting road. But with some frequency, treating the intersection like a four-way stop sign, drivers will stop to allow others take their turning moving through the intersection. As a rule, I’ve found, common sense and courtesy prevails.
I have no hard evidence for my proposition, but I would hypothesize that the Richmond way works better than the NoVa way. Aggressive, eradic driving is more likely to disrupt traffic flow than calm, courteous driving. Could Richmonders live up to Drachten standards? Probably not. Aside from the expense of retrofitting our major intersections with roundabouts, there are just too many Yankee transplants down here. (That’s a deliberate attempt to get a rise out of readers.) We may be courteous, but we’re not courteous enough. Additionally, our urban design and land use patterns do not lend themselves to bicycling and walking. Still, the experiment is worth thinking about.
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