Lessons from Times Square

If progressive urban leaders want to transform their cities from smoggy, car-choked clichés to green exemplars of Copenhagen Chic, they've got to co-opt the powers that be with razor-sharp, targetted PR.

This is my capsule summary of an insightful news analysis, by landscape designer Kristin Faurest of Artemisia Design, of what Budapest can learn from New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg's stunning coup in turning Times Square into a pedestrian mall. Download the full text of the original English-language article here.

Appropriately enough, the article takes a laser-beam focus on Bloomberg's sales job, an aspect conspicuously missing from Budapest City Hall's recent attempt to green the capital's thoroughfares. Here, the plan was packaged in a slapdash manner after word about the idea was leaked to the press. Proponents pitched it as an experiment with "artificial traffic jams," and the public greeted it with predictable scorn.

By contrast, the project in Times Square was preceded by months of meticulous planning and lobbying. When the plan went public, a coordinated sales effort focused on winning over key stakeholders, including retailers and motorists. Significantly, the PR campaign was given the upbeat name of "Green Light." As Faurest writes:

Green Light’s information campaign was characterized by transparency, openness, well-supported arguments, realistic timelines and detailed practical information for taxis, delivery trucks, and theatergoers. It was heavily planned, controlled and targeted. Central to the information campaign was a list of benefits the changes would provide:

• Traffic lights with up to 66% more green time
• Significant travel time improvements on Sixth and Seventh Avenues
• Safer and simpler crossings for pedestrians
• Faster bus speeds for 70,000 daily riders

Although Budapest City Hall's most recent attempt at greening the city's main arteries went down in a monsoon of rotten fruit, the idea of a quieter, safer more humane transport system still beckons. Those of us who want to bring it to fruition can learn valuable lessons from the miracle at Times Square.

The article appears in Hungarian in two online publications, the architecture and new-urbanist blog epiteszforum.hu and the general daily news site index.hu.

It's Official: Traffic Jam Proposal Dead

Today, the Cabinet of the Municipal Administration voted against the widely derided proposal to create temporary artificial traffic jams as a trial for greening Budapest's transport system. Not a big surprise.

Traffic Jams Prove Unpopular -- Doh!!

Prospects dimmed rather quickly for the recent proposal to create artificial traffic jams in Budapest as a precursor to greening the city's transport. Since the idea was leaked to the press earlier this week, a deluge of criticism has come down from politicians, the press, the Hungarian Auto Club -- even an NGO devoted to public transport.

The probable death knell came Thursday night, when the proposal's leading proponent at City Hall -- Deputy Mayor Imre Ikvai-Szabó (pictured) -- admitted "there was very little chance" of implementation this summer.

During his statement, as reported on Index.hu, Ikvai-Szabó, of the Free Democrat party, said he would still submit the idea for a proper hearing by the Budapest Cabinet. But he conceded that there was little political support or hope of getting it.

The most harsh criticism may have come from opposing party Magyar Democratic Forum, which gave Mayor Gábor Demszky the "birka díj" (dork award) for raising such an "absurd and laughable" idea.

The Hungarian Auto Club argued that it made no sense to create artificial traffic jams without providing adequate transport alternatives. The NGO VEKE (Urban and Suburban Transport Association), which has supported progressive initiatives such as the expansion of Budapest's night bus service, concurred, saying that before car lanes are taken away, the city would have to expand public transport, including the reinstallation of tram lines on Rakoczi út and Bajcsy-Zsilinszky út.

The shame of it all is that the failure of this poorly considered scheme may turn into a setback for the larger idea of improving living conditions in the city by reducing motor traffic and re-prioritising public space for people instead of vehicles.

In my first post on the matter, I criticised the utter lack of marketing savvy in the idea's promotion. By focusing on constricted road space and traffic jams, proponents are framing green transport as a kind of bitter medicine that residents must swallow in order for the city to get better. This negative approach struck me as baffling, especially considering all the positive things that green transport has to offer: healthier lifestyle, a quieter and more pleasant urban environment, cleaner air, safer streets, more inviting commercial and public spaces, etc., etc., etc.

Another thing came up during a conversation with a friend: the proposal is too sudden and drastic. The greening of a city is a long-term project. Copenhagen, to take Europe's best example, is now renowned for its invigorating streetlife and superior accomodations for cyclists. But in the 1970s, it was the same automotive mess that Budapest is today. The city managed its transformation through slow but continuous improvements over 30 years and never with an overarching plan. That city's transformation was proof that slow and steady wins the race.

Popularity of Traffic Jams Tested

Budapest City Hall is considering the creation of artificial traffic jams as a way to test public reaction to a proposed expansion of cycling and walking space.

The proposal, which hirszero.hu says is the brainchild of Deputy Mayor Imre Ikvai-Szabó, is part of gambit to see how motorists might react if road space is given over to cycling and bus lanes on such major arteries as Kossuth Lajos utca, Üllôi út, Bajcszy-Zsilinszky út and Hegyalja út.

During the trial period from July 4 to August 2, the closed traffic lanes would be used for various purposes. On Kossuth Lajos utca, one lane would be closed down on both sides of the street, with the liberated space to be used for "walking and shopping." Somewhat perversely from an environmental point of view, the closed lanes on Bajcsy-Zsilinszky út, Üllôi út, and the lower rakpart on the Buda bank would be available for car parking.

From what I gather, the idea is probably well-intended. Imre Ikvai-Szabó is relatively new to politics but has been supportive of progressive causes, including the renovation of Nehru park near the Economics University and Vásárcsarnok. Ikvai-Szabó is apparently open-minded and solicitous of diverse views, which are laudable qualities.

However, his idea appears strategically flawed in that it introduces people to the negative aspects of the initiative while concealing its benefits. The above illustration shows how Kossuth Lajos utca would look with a widened sidewalk, some attractive new plantings and a new bike lane. But during the trial, none of these amenities will be in place. The cordoned-off traffic lane will be open for walking, but how many pedestrians will want to step off the sidewalk onto a hot strip of tarmac that merely puts them in closer range to passing traffic?

It's much harder to understand why the closed lanes on the other arteries will be opened for parking. The city is merely taking space from moving cars and giving them to stationary ones. If the ultimate aim is to expand space for environmentally friendly transport users, why not make the closed lanes available to buses and/or cyclists during the trial?

The likely result of this test seems all too predictable: Motorists will hate it because it will exacerbate congestion on roads that are already over-subscribed. Meanwhile, cyclists and public transport users who would benefit most from a progressive transport policy will see few benefits, and may even be provoked against the initiative by the expansion of street parking.

Testing motorists' tolerance for traffic jams strikes me as an astonishingly negative way of promoting environmentally friendly transport. Ikvai-Szabó cites the success of the shared-space concept on Raday utca as his inspiration for the calming of city thoroughfares. I can't remember any trial traffic jams before that project was carried out. The district simply did it -- and with time, residents warmed to it.

Bold action is needed again on the city's thoroughfares. Without it, these initiatives will forever be stuck on the shoals of the status quo.

Free Bike Parking for Inauguration

I have a Hungarian friend, Charlie, who works at a catering agency in Washington, D.C., and he is NOT looking forward to next week. The U.S. capital expects a record crowd for the inauguration of Barack Obama -- an estimated 3 million visitors to a city whose permanent population is less than 600,000. Not that Washington, D.C. is a stanger to big crowds, but this will be something else altogether.

Charlie stands to make some good money waiting tables or tending bar at one of the scores of inaugural parties and balls on the docket. Despite this, he's dreading the event and the days leading up to it because the crowds on the streets will be practically impenetrable. I guess we can imagine something like St. Stephens Day and the Sziget Festival all rolled into one and crammed into a city somewhat larger than Győr.

One of the major problems is the shortage of parking. With America having crappy train service and air travel being expensive and hassle-ridden, most visitors will come by car. City authorities have enlarged the no-parking zone around downtown to make way for people, and also for the thousands of charter buses that need someplace to unload. You can imagine that thousands of motorists will idle hours on end in traffic jams trying to find a parking spot within walking distance of downtown.

There's a remedy to this situation, and you probably won't be surprised what it is: bicycling. Some quick thinkers at the Washington Area Bicycle Association put together a one-off bicycle valet service (not unlike what they've had at the Sziget Festival in recent years), with two stations in the downtown area. People who bike into the city can leave their bikes free-of-charge in a secure, guarded parking station -- and pick up a commemorative inauguration spoke card if they get there in time.

It seems there's not much that can't be readily solved with bicycles.

Braving Bucharest

I just returned from a cycling conference held in a city no one would mistake for a pedaling paradise -- Bucharest. The car traffic there is so awful, it makes Budapest seem like a pokey village on the Puszta. During the ride from the main airport, my taxi was stuck in gridlock 90 percent of the time. The trip, which just four or five years ago might have taken 30-40 minutes, took more than an hour and a half. A colleague who took the bus said the trip took two hours -- no priority lanes in Bucharest for public transport. A friend of a friend who put me up for the weekend said that traffic has made her more of a homebody. Where she once might have met with her graphic design clients in person, she now has several long-time customers whom she's never seen. Telecommuting isn't just better for the environment, it's also kinder to the nerves.

Despite this, and because of it, the city's mayor, Sorin Oprescu, began promoting bicycling as a car alternative three years ago, apparently after a revelatory visit to Paris. By now, Bucharest has 50 km of cycling tracks that provide safe passage along a few streets in the city centre. As is common in Budapest, the tracks are just painted lines on sidewalks, but it seemed to me that because of the Amazonian width of Bucharest's many boulevards, these sidewalk bike paths can't be said to deprive pedestrians of walking space.

Unfortunately, the same can't be said for cars. Drivers park their vehicles everywhere in Bucharest, including across bike paths -- as well as on sidewalks, crosswalks, traffic medians, etc., etc. Some readers will think that's no different than Budapest, but, believe me, it's much, much worse. You have to see it.

With such chaotic traffic on the streets and such a small and ill-used bike path network, it's no surprise that few dare to bike in Bucharest. I asked several people about it, and they were unanimous in their opinion that cycling was too dangerous to consider. My weekend host, Yvonne, said she tried cycling to her office on one of the mayor's new bike paths. The problem was that the path only went half way to the office; after that, she was exposed to the firing range of downtown traffic, and she just gave up. Now the only bike she rides is the stationary exercycle in her living room.

A new NGO, MaiMultVerde (Greener), took its own step to encourage cycling last summer with the launch of the bike-sharing system, Cycloteque. The privately-financed scheme (now sponsored by the Romanian arm of Unicredit) got off to a slow start, did better when university students arrived in fall, but is now temporarily shut down for winter. MaiMultVerde is seeking corporate backing for the continued operation of Cycloteque, and perhaps even expansion of the system, but its future is not at all certain.

If you want to try out Bucharest cycling for yourself, it's nice to have a service like Cycloteque at your disposal. But don't be alarmed when, during the check-out, they offer you the standard protective gear for Bucharest cyclists: not only a helmet but also elbow and knee pads. You might think this is a little over the top. But one of my Bucharest friends told me a story that put it in context. She was driving downtown and saw a cyclist waiting at an intersection. She stopped to let the guy cross but a motorist in the adjacent lane was not so patient -- he kept going as if to drive right through the crossing and knocked the cyclist flat on the tarmac. Luckily, the car had braked before the collision. The cyclist was more dazed than hurt -- although his bike was mangled. Lucky also that the motorist was civilised enough to offer to pay damages. My friend spoke to the cyclist, who was fully girded with the knee and elbow pads and helmet. "Are you ok?" she asked. "Oh yeah," he said. "This happens all the time."