ZApr 3, 2023
Elisabeth Anderson 

It's incredible how much space is given to a few people in motor vehicles vs so many more people on foot or wheels. It's a vast inequity.

Nowhere is this more stark than #ShibuyaCrossing; the world's busiest pedestrian crossing with as many as 3,000 people crossing at a time. Compared to around 12 cars fromone direction of the junction in one sequence. #Urbanism #CitiesForPeople

Apr 3, 2023 at 12:18pmWeb
Show threadDOWApr 3, 2023
@velobetty why don't they just make a bridge?
Show threadElisabeth Anderson Apr 3, 2023
@dao ...or ban cars...
Show threadMrs CloudyApr 3, 2023
@dao @velobetty out of cars?
Show thread@billclassifiedApr 3, 2023
@dao @velobetty too busy!
Show threadDOWApr 5, 2023
@billjurgensen @velobetty trump is too busy walking to the jailhouse
Show thread@billclassifiedApr 5, 2023
@dao Great hair in this representation, I hope he gets slammed for his insane antics from last night.
Show threadA Tattered ScrapbookApr 3, 2023
@dao @velobetty There are bridges and underground walkways here, too. Bottom left (I think) is one of the world’s busiest railway/subway stations. The original poster’s point remains true, or, perhaps, is enhanced, by knowing that there are other, very crowded, ways of getting around this exceptionally busy area.
Show threadDOWApr 5, 2023
@Tattered @velobetty a bridge to jail.
Show threadEdmund EdgarApr 4, 2023

@dao
Stuff is at ground level, don't want to make people climb stairs. There's a walkway between the buildlings as well if you're higher up and want to stay higher up.

You could put the cars on a bridge but it would take a lot of ramps and things. There are already expressways passing close both above and underground.
@velobetty

Show threadDOWApr 5, 2023
@edmundedgar @velobetty trump is climbing down
Show threadschaefernoskeApr 3, 2023
@velobetty Looks like a pulse!
Show threadpaulApr 3, 2023

@Snos @velobetty

thrombosis

Show threadschaefernoskeApr 3, 2023
@amiserabilist @velobetty 😲
Show threadDouglas Phillips BooksApr 3, 2023
@velobetty don't fault the Japanese. Tokyo is an amazing city for its layers of transportation including separate footpaths that cross over streets and connect directly into rail stations. They are far ahead of America.
Show threadElisabeth Anderson Apr 3, 2023

@dpscifi I'm not faulting the Japanese and I've actually worked in Tokyo and been to Shibuya crossing. 😊

I'm faulting pretty much every city in the world where space is provided for motor vehicles and not for people.

America is amongst the worst, yes.

Show threadDouglas Phillips BooksApr 3, 2023
@velobetty I avoid walking in Manhattan. The sidewalks just don't accommodate the crowds. Tokyo is crowded too, but their 6 or 7 layer infrastructure is a wonder of social engineering. The Japanese should be commended and emulated!
Show threadElisabeth Anderson Apr 3, 2023
@dpscifi Cycling in Tokyo is a lot easier than in Manhattan too. People in Tokyo are less aggressive and a lot of the streets are quieter, I found. Although I didn't actually cycle in Manhattan, just walked and got public transport.
Show threadBen FultonApr 4, 2023
@dpscifi @velobetty Do you drive around Manhattan rather than walk?
Show threadSocar MylesApr 3, 2023
@velobetty I know this place! I came out of a building near here, and immediately got swept away by a crowd of OAPs. It really does get busy, but the pavements are wide. There's more space for pedestrians than I've seen on the average Canadian street.
Show threadElisabeth Anderson Apr 3, 2023
@packbawky I know it too. The roads are bigger than the pavements, despite there being many more pedestrians.
Show threadSocar MylesApr 3, 2023
@velobetty That's true--they are bigger. I'm not saying it's perfect. But it's decidedly better than a lot of roads in my area.
Show threadTed SpenceApr 3, 2023
@velobetty I have never seen a better image to express my desire for open walkable cities
Show threadBarry GoldmanApr 3, 2023
@velobetty @futurebird lets say a parking space is a dollar an hour. 12x30 is 360$ a mo. What am i thinking here.. anyway.. all th good space is used for empty cars and not ppl!
Show threadBarry GoldmanApr 3, 2023
@velobetty @futurebird some asses phault
Show threadsneakApr 3, 2023
@velobetty it's only an inequity if you consider people on foot can never be inside of cars, or people in cars can never be on foot. it's available to all people in vehicles and all people on foot equally. anyone can choose their mode of transport. this video also doesn't show the busses that regularly transit the intersection.
Show threadElisabeth Anderson Apr 3, 2023

@sneak No amount of people could fit into cars or buses that would equal the number of people on foot or using wheelchairs because the roads just couldn't carry that number of people in motor vehicles.

It can never be equitable even if everybody had access to the motor vehicles which they don't in any case for various reasons including cost.

Motor vehicles prevent equity in cities, not provide it.

Show threadsneakApr 3, 2023
@velobetty this is obviously false, a highway carrying busses full of people moves way more people than a highway full of people walking, even if it's full.
Show threadElisabeth Anderson Apr 3, 2023

@sneak Totally irrelevant. This has nothing to do with highways at all, it's about cities. There aren't highways of buses here and it's like saying boats carry more people than can swim. Totally irrelevant.

It's about the majority of space being afforded to the minority of people. Motor vehicles occupy lots of space because they're a hugely inefficient method of transport and not appropriate in cities.

I really don't feel the need to explain this again so that's all from me.

Show threadZratatouille@東京Apr 5, 2023

@sneak @velobetty as someone who is going through that intersection often I wished the sidewalks would be larger. Shibuya is really crowded, even more since the borders reopening.

I wouldn't be against having only 1 lane for each way and even restrain this district only to buses, residents and professional vehicles or convert one of those to a bicycle lane.

Show threadFruttekoekApr 3, 2023
@velobetty I think it's fair to mention that many of those pedestrians are tourists who like to participate in the hustle and bustle themselves.
It is partly a self-perpetuating phenomenon.
Show threadElisabeth Anderson Apr 3, 2023
@Fruttekoek Then give them more space to hustle and bustle. Doesn't change the point at all.
Show threadVayl Larkin (they/them)Apr 3, 2023
@velobetty I am very much in favor of "walkable cities", but as a wheelchair user, I do worry for disabled folks who rely on motorized travel for independence and autonomy. It seems like a lot of folks just don't mention that, when they're making ideal plans. Thoughts?
Show threadElisabeth Anderson Apr 3, 2023

@VaylLarkinPoet The vast majority of motor traffic in cities actively prevents disabled people from accessing spaces and people who need to use motor vehicles for access are hindered from doing so because of people who don't need to use motor vehicles.

Vastly reducing motor traffic benefits everybody, including disabled people.

I can't see a city ever having *no* cars but if there are only cars that are really needed it'd be a great city for people!

Show threadVayl Larkin (they/them)Apr 4, 2023
@velobetty I will just say that while I agree with what you're saying, a plan where disabled people are just expected to automatically have access has resulted in equal access exactly zero times. Just making sure that even though we can't walk or ride, we still get a voice.
Show threadElisabeth Anderson May 1, 2023
@VaylLarkinPoet I mean that disabled people should be the *first* people considered. Then people who walk. Then who cycle. Then who use public transport.
Show threadNiceMicroApr 3, 2023

@velobetty I live in Korea, and while greater Seoul area has great public transit and even decent bike traffic in some places, the space roads take up is insane.

Once my wife showed me a great playground, which is "so big", but then you go to the next intersection, and it is barely bigger than the intersection itself.

Show threadKyrie_CApr 4, 2023
@velobetty I find this both oddly hypnotic and strangely disturbing
Show threadEVHasteApr 4, 2023
@velobetty God I miss Japan. 😭
Show threadamy tech (bones)Apr 4, 2023
@Haste @velobetty same 😭
Show threadDavidApr 5, 2023
@velobetty This is what shocked me when I went there. I always assumed it to be the heart of Tokyo in terms of traffic or something, and there really weren't that many cars at all.
Show threadElisabeth Anderson Apr 5, 2023
@David There aren't! It's really strange that the city is so dense but there is so much space given to cars!
Show threadChristian KentApr 5, 2023
@velobetty @Pkbwood Never realised it’s a functional failure before!
Show threadM4rcoApr 7, 2023
@velobetty
Show threadTh.HampelJan 4, 2024
@velobetty Been there, it’s an amazing place. To my surprise it was very silent compared to busy crossings elsewhere on the planet.
Show threadElisabeth Anderson Jan 4, 2024
@tha Me too! ☺️
Show threadEsme CiredutempsJan 4, 2024
@velobetty c'est hypnotique
Show threadTim Ward ⭐🇪🇺🔶 #FBPEJan 4, 2024
@velobetty In my couple of days wandering around Tokyo I found that much of it seemed to be like that. Most of my journeys on foot consisted of watching cars drive by whilst waiting for the lights to change to allow me to cross the road. I've never seen anywhere else so car-centric (but then I've never tried to walk around a city in the Lower 48 of the USA).
Show threadElisabeth Anderson Jan 5, 2024
@TimWardCam Yes indeed, and also it's bad manners to cross at a pedestrian crossing which doesn't have a green light. People wait at an empty street for the green light. In case somebody who isn't concentrating walks into the road after you.
Show threadrobidoo99Jan 5, 2024
@velobetty @TimWardCam In Australia (Melbourne at least, when I lived there a few years ago) you get fined by the police for crossing the street and not using a crossing when given permission by the green man/walk sign. I never saw a driver pursued for road violations.
Show threadTim Ward ⭐🇪🇺🔶 #FBPEJan 5, 2024
@robidoo99 @velobetty Here apart from on motorways the pedestrian can go when and where they like. Which may not always be sane, and may attract liability for any resulting accident, but you can't be fined for crossing an empty road!! What a bizarre car-centric idea.
Show thread2¢Jan 5, 2024
@velobetty wow, I guess they should change the timing so that 3000 cars can pass to make it fair.
Show threadReneDamkotJan 6, 2024
@velobetty First time I saw the crossing was in "Resident Evil; After Life" :')
Show threadaevaJan 6, 2024
@velobetty I wonder if it would even significantly affect automobile throughput in the area if they just deleted that intersection and made it a park. Maybe it's just the time of day in the video, but it seems like the answer is "probably not at all".
Show threadElisabeth Anderson Jan 6, 2024
@aeva If you compare the numbers of people walking to those in cars the latter is very much the minority.
Show threadaevaJan 6, 2024
@velobetty yes. that is quite obvious
Show threadxotJan 7, 2024
@velobetty People forget that cars are intruders on roads we've walked for hundreds of years.
Show threadUr Ya'arJan 7, 2024
@velobetty
That's some crazy footage!
We should really move towards more levels. Create bridges or tunnels to sperarate cars from pedestrians which will allow both smoother movement
Show threadcarbonacatJan 8, 2024
@velobetty (unrelated to the point - I like how organic, how heart-like pulsy are the people crossing the intersection)
Show threadAtomic FoxJan 8, 2024

@velobetty

A friend of mine used a JR pass to cut through the station and avoid that crossing.

Show threadLaux Myth (aka Martin)Jan 9, 2024
@velobetty
We are ants. We just have to shift the hive mind to benefit more of us.