SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
from the shortest-distance-between-two-points dept.
An L.A. Councilman is attempting to blame the application Waze for neighborhood "cut-throughs", where people divert to side streets during traffic congestion.
In his view this is a new phenomenon that has never happened before, although it is widespread around the world and has been so for many years, certainly existing long before 'apps' became popular. The councilor is planning on using a data sharing agreement with Waze in order to strong-arm the application into becoming less useful, which will not solve the problem because people will just use other applications, and those with local knowledge will still know the quickest route from A to B.
The popularity of Waze is largely because it helps drivers avoid delays and to find alternative routes based on the the reports received from other drivers. Applying the measures that the councilor is hoping for will neuter the app completely, rendering it pointless. However, the councilor does make one good point - there are more pedestrian safety facilities (e.g. crossing points, barriers etc) on major routes and that the practice might lead to increased casualty rates in residential areas.
(Score: 1) by nitehawk214 on Thursday April 30 2015, @03:39PM
And certainly not because they simply don't repave the streets in poor neighborhoods. Where I live
Also, people would not find "short cuts" if the infrastructure of the main roads could handle the traffic. Though I don't blame city councils for that. When a new housing development or shopping center goes up, they are better here in the past few years about being proactive about traffic signals. But sometimes you just can't predict when a change will mess up traffic patterns.
Around here, the state workers that operate the highways love to detour traffic through towns and city streets. They also do no not give a single shit if an intersection is designed poorly causing traffic to be routed all over the place. I wonder if those towns get any money from the to get their roads repaired.
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh