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Highway Robbery, or: where did all the space go?

This is taken from http://www.denvergov.com/Blueprint_Denver/1323photo.asp and is the most graphic representation I've seen of the incredible space-inefficiency of motor transport. We are told that congestion is due to bus lanes, cyclists, pedestrians and lorries taking up the road. This series of four simple pictures shows the real culprit.


Congestion

Thirty-five cars, stationary on the road. If they were moving at 30mph each car would need at least 10m of headway, so this is about as densely packed as cars get.


Cargo

This is the cargo. Thirty-five individual drivers.


The Invisible Bus

And this is how much space they'd take up in a bus


Mixed Mode

Here we have our thirty-five poeple getting on with life, some going into town on the bus, some cycling, some walking, a couple of small cars and a taxi.

Now, who was the problem, again?

© 2006, Guy Chapman. printed at 01:25 AM on 09/10/2010 version 1 last changed 10/31/2006 11:24 PM
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