Suggestions to Relieve Urban Traffic Safety & Flow

cobraboy

Pro-Bono Demolition Hobbyist
Jul 24, 2004
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These are a couple of easily implemented traffic statutes that may go a long way to relieve the frustration of dealing with urban traffic in the DR:

1) Have designated concho drop-off zones. Santiago has some of these downtown and they work well.

2) Have designated moto-only parking zones on each block with diagonal spaces so a couple of motos cannot take an entire block and several can park in a smaller area.

Of course enforcement is always a problem in a culture that thinks rules don't apply to them.

Any other suggestions?
 

mido

Bronze
May 18, 2002
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Improve urban public transportation and eliminate moto conchos completely.
 
May 5, 2007
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These are a couple of easily implemented traffic statutes that may go a long way to relieve the frustration of dealing with urban traffic in the DR:

1) Have designated concho drop-off zones. Santiago has some of these downtown and they work well.

2) Have designated moto-only parking zones on each block with diagonal spaces so a couple of motos cannot take an entire block and several can park in a smaller area.

Of course enforcement is always a problem in a culture that thinks rules don't apply to them.

Any other suggestions?

I seem to recall on one of my first visits to the DR, they had just started AMET and bought the huge new flex buses and designated the "Bus only" lanes. The prime users of the bus only lanes were carts pulled by donkeys, moto conchos and taxis. If no one follows the law or the law is not equitable enforced?
 
May 29, 2006
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I have no idea how they run the buses in the DR, but here are some of the things I've read about improving mass transit:

Make buses the quickest way to go by programming traffic lights to always be green for them using sensors in lights. Firetrucks and Police already use this system in many US cities.
TOMAR | STROBECOM II - Optical Traffic Preemption System

Elliminate left turns on bus routes(except where both streets are one way) when possible..

Build bus loading "tubes" like they use in Brazil so people can get on and off of buses without climbing stairs. Improve routes by creating express hubs and then use secondary buses/motos for local travel. Convert to an RF card sensor system(maybe built into Cedulas?) to remove cash handling by bus drivers.

A bus stop in Curitiba, Brazil | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Start by having just a few dozen "hubs" in a city that express buses stop at. No drop offs or pick ups between hubs. Let demand design where other hubs are put in.

When I lived in Japan, the mass transit was amazing. They use a centralized hub system for most of Tokyo but it's almost all trains.
 

dv8

Gold
Sep 27, 2006
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my suggestion would be everyone respecting the law. but forget it, i know it's absurd.
 
May 29, 2006
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They are copying the Brazil system in LA now and many other cities. Curitiba has bus only lanes.

In Japan 20 years ago you could buy disposable bus pass cards in various amounts and it would keep track of the number of rides you took on it with an automatic punch system.

My local bus system uses RF cards and disposable cards and it's cheaper than cash. Another plus for the RF system is you can track users and get info on exactly how many people get on and off at each stop and adjust your schedule to meet demand.

Unfortunately, my local system has a huge contract with the college so they give much more service to the college kids than is needed and not enough for where the low wage jobs are and where the working poor live. One supermarket near the college has a bus every 15 minutes from 6AM to 1AM, but the McDonalds that's two miles out of town only gets the bus twice a day. So you see these kids walk in the snow for a half hour each way in the snow to take home maybe six bucks an hour. The college demand for the bus is more for parking than it is for traffic.

More on Curitiba. It's kind of like the hub system used now in the US for airlines:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeAZsmpt7a8
 

Criss Colon

Platinum
Jan 2, 2002
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yahoomail.com
They have designated,"No Concho pick up/drop off zones in SD. They are never enforced!
How about carpet bombing the DR using "Neutron Bombs"?????
Just tell all expats when, and we'll be "Off The Island" that day!
Added benefits, No Loud Music, no barking dogs, no drunks.
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
 

cobraboy

Pro-Bono Demolition Hobbyist
Jul 24, 2004
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Improve urban public transportation and eliminate moto conchos completely.
That'll never happen.

Motoconchos are "feeders" into main routes where a concho or guagua transports passengers further.

I'm OK with motoconchos. In general-and remember, we get around much more than the average person in the DR, local or Dominican-they are some of the better drivers on the island. But where they park is problematic. They take up way more space than necessary on urban streets competing for scarce spots with cars. In one space a car would take-often taken by one moto- you could easily park 5-6 motos diagonally.

If conchos had regular stop location, like buses, there wouldn't be the sudden pull off/pull into traffic that regularly results in bent metal. AND there wouldn't be so many pedestrians trying to cross the street in the middle of a block. Drivers could better plan for concho behavior, and that's the #1 complaint about conchos: you never know what they'll do next.
 

the gorgon

Platinum
Sep 16, 2010
33,997
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They have designated,"No Concho pick up/drop off zones in SD. They are never enforced!
How about carpet bombing the DR using "Neutron Bombs"?????
Just tell all expats when, and we'll be "Off The Island" that day!
Added benefits, No Loud Music, no barking dogs, no drunks.
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC


is any law ever enforced in the DR? the only time that happens is when some member of a local constabulary wants to shake down a gringo. a major portion of the traffic jams in places like Santo Domingo are caused by foul driving habits. everybody wants to exceed the speed limit, switch lanes, and bore into the traffic flow from sidestreets. they can build as many Metros as they care. they can put one in every backyard. they will never reduce traffic breakdown until the drivers change their attitudes and habits.
 

dv8

Gold
Sep 27, 2006
31,266
363
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