Okay, day 2 back in #Darmstadt after 9 days of #Amsterdam and #Enkhuizen. I absolutely agree with #NotJustBikes: "Citys aren't loud, cars are."
Amsterdam has 900k inhabitants. Yet they manage to keep most of the city calm and (while accessible to private cars) mostly low-car. The result is, that you can sit at whichever corner in a restaurant or shop and have an actual conversation. Yes, there are a few places (again: mostly roads) that are loud, but restaurants almost naturally choose not to be there. It's also much calmer in your flat. It is also very easy to choose even very long routes where you encounter only a few larger streets.
Darmstadt has about 160k inhabitants (more than 5 times smaller than Amsterdam). Yet, even in 30 km/h zones, while less frequently than on the main streets, cars go so fast that once one passes, you have to raise your voice if you're talking. Bet ya, they're very often not going 30 but faster. There are only a few areas (Fußgängerzone) where you can actually sit outside and enjoy a calm time, because every few minutes a car speeds by. And if you live in a flat with another house right opposite of the street, you enjoy the sound amplified by at least 3dB. And yet, although Darmstadt is so much smaller than Amsterdam, it seems you encounter a major road even on the shortest routes.
We have two kids. One in a nursery, one in kindergarten. My way to the nursery is 900 m and I have to cross one major street and go along another one for about 100 m.
Today, my daughter wanted to wait outside in the bike trailer while I drop off my son. Just a few seconds after I entered, I could hear her cry. Why? Because two lorries stopped right next to her at the traffic light on that three lane road. Sure you cry. I should cry too.
Then, the way to her kindergarten is another 1.5 km - 90% on a major road. Yes, the second half is 30 km/h. But of course if I go 25 km/h on the red strip to the right, the lorry on the main strip has to go by at 35 km/h, making this an awkward, very close and unnecessarily long overtaking manoeuvre.
Of course, I could take a route through the side streets. However:
* It's 35% longer.
* The road surface is much, much worse.
* I still have to cross 2 major roads, one of which featuring 6 lanes (yes, 2 regular per direction, and two bus lanes).
And last but not least: The behaviour of motorists in the NL (examples Amsterdam and Enkhuizen) is so much better. The amount of times drivers simply waited at a crossing without making a fuzz. I even had to take the car once and was shocked to find that drivers look ahead and let you pass if it makes the situation easier for everyone. This is absolutely not what I see in Darmstadt every day. Drivers go on into a narrow road with parked cars on their side when head traffic is coming (of course a bike does not count as traffic, so that's fine).
#NotJustBikes is comparing the NL to North America. It would be worthwhile to compare them to cities in Europe more often.
The council of Darmstadt recently discussed (and afaik accepted) the rebuilding plans for a major bridge at the main station. It was necessary for structural reasons, the old bridge was a danger. But they made almost every single mistake in the book when it comes to using that project to make that area less car-centric and more pedestrian and bike friendly.
* Slip lanes were not removed. Even the one with the awkward bus station on it (yes, I'm not making this up, this is 100% US style).
* Corner radii were increased almost everywhere. Where they were not touched, they were left at the current, relatively large values.
* They added lanes. In 2022, they literally added lanes. For (car) traffic flow. And I am not talking about the fact that the formerly shared tram/car lanes now became two tram and two car lanes. They added car lanes.
* Did they add pedestrian crossings? No. Not a single one. They treated pedestrians to a refuge island on this now 7 or 8 lane street. Yay!
And more generally speaking, what drives me nuts is the total lack of ambition: If you bring up Amsterdam as a role model, people tell you twelve reasons why it won't work in your city. Even environmentalists will tell you: "Yes, but the NL has a very high car usage per capita and is not much better than DE."
Yet, Amsterdam is a very real city. And so is Enkhuizen (which could stand in for the typical "but in Rural Germany™" kind of argument).
So, the main error here imho is that motorised traffic *demand*/*need*/*requirements* are discussed and finally met. But *peoples'* needs are not. So, as of 2022, in Darmstadt at least, we're still building cities for cars not for people.
👉 https://www.youtube.com/c/NotJustBikes
👉 https://twitter.com/notjustbikes (unfortunately not in the #fediverse yet)
@cweickhmann just one point, wondering if all motorized vehicles were exchanged for electric vehicles if a similar level a sound decreasing would be experienced?
Of course all the other issues would still persist, though one needs to start somewhere.
@barefootstache
At below 50km/h what you hear is not the engine (normally, yes, there are cars where it's different). What you hear is the wheels, the rubber on tarmac.
So, to answer your question: electric vehicles are just as bad in cities.
To be a bit more specific: a car *can* be quieter. If the car is lighter, if the wheels are narrower. But this is exactly not what is sold right now. E-Cars tend to be even heavier and are sold with even wider tyres.