Brent Toderian

Never forget that when Seoul, Korea removed the Cheonggyecheon expressway in 2003 and replaced it with a restored stream, 1000 acre park and improved transit, not only did it transform the city’s public life & economic success, but the traffic got better.

The traffic got BETTER.

Oct 6, 2023 at 6:32pmWeb
Show threadJanko Luin Oct 6, 2023
@BrentToderian @stofferoo I’ve had the pleasure of walking in that park! Quite an extraordinary space, right in the middle of that hypermodern megacity. Fantastic.
Show threadAlonOct 6, 2023
@BrentToderian I want to well-actually that over this period, car usage in the region has increased, but in fact it's increased by relatively little - the modal split for transit deteriorated from something like 53% in 2000 to 50% on the eve of the pandemic, and for a newly-industrialized country this is about the best one can hope for. Removing freeways and building metros is peak performance. (Metropolitan Seoul most likely has the highest transit modal split in the democratic first world.)
Show threadminhn1994Oct 7, 2023

@Alon @BrentToderian

Do you know metropolitan Tokyo's transit mode share?

Show threadAlonOct 7, 2023
@minhn1994 @BrentToderian I've seen conflicting numbers; the oft-cited figure of 60% is likely too high, and it might be only in the 40s.
Show threadsofticecreamlesleyOct 20, 2023

@Alon @BrentToderian Want to say that Seoul’s metro transit rocks. It’s fabulous!

I wish I could take every suburban American and make them try out that subway system for a day.

Show threadJonOct 20, 2023
@softicecreamlesley @Alon @BrentToderian seconded. The metro was great when we held meetings there a few years ago (as were most others in SE / E Asia I've had exposure to).
Show threadGeofCoxOct 7, 2023

@BrentToderian

It's pretty obvious that roads create traffic. For example, they cut journey times, so enable people to live further away from work/shops/etc. This can be a good thing in some ways - up to a point. But uncontrolled, the extra journeys required jam up the roads, and you're back to the old journey time, with the added disutilities of masses of slow moving traffic using up time and energy, producing pollution, etc.

Of course, measured by GDP, sitting in a traffic jam for an hour every day is 'better' than getting home and playing with your kids.
That's capitalism !

Show threadkbOct 8, 2023
@BrentToderian alttext?
Show threadmattOct 8, 2023
@BrentToderian where can we read more about this? I'd love to believe this can happen.
Show threadJohnOct 8, 2023
@BrentToderian sure it did. When I visited Copenhagen I was struck by the fact that the cars were less congested than on our local roads, In spite of the bikes and public transport
Show threadMortenOct 10, 2023
@johnwithbike @BrentToderian Copenhagen is plenty congested outside the city during rush hour.
Show threadJohnOct 12, 2023
@drgroftehauge @BrentToderian thanks. As a tourist I only saw the city centre
Show threadSoh Kam YungOct 8, 2023

@BrentToderian A search got me this paywalled research article about the effects of removing the highway.

"Whereas travel speed declined and traffic volume increased immediately after the construction work, the number of subway passengers increased and the number of road trips decreased simultaneously. This implies that travelers change their behavior patterns and are self-compliant, even in response to major travel disturbances."

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0967070X12000108

@maxeddy

Show threadAntiroo 🔞Oct 8, 2023
@BrentToderian Strange to think that when people can walk to where they are going they don't need to drive there
Show threadpete, the enemy withinOct 12, 2023
@BrentToderian Cheonggyecheon is a delight. And it’s magical at the lantern festival.
Show threadRaethNov 2, 2023
@BrentToderian @odoben Twitter Tone