interchange

intersection exchanges

july 12, 2009

57th and crenshaw. (a)typical condition in pursiut of a " quality of life"

hoi-wai-napoleon. brainstorming.

hoi and I got together to mini brainstorm concepts marinating since our last gathering.
we discussed the city at large, our potential approaches to the competition.
hoi brought measure 5 a California initiative that was all about infrastructures of greater los angeles.
hoi and I came up with a task list of items we can begin analysis.
we can up with a check list of task to research , documenting a way to arrive at what are the types of sites and places we can envision. greater los angeles = los angeles greater.
hoi will keep the fire of ideas going by proving that list we can start to create.

oh btw. congratulations to glen and pam for the arrival of their new addition to the family. i hear its a boy. we look forward to your return when you are ready.

VW Factory in Dresden, Germany

The wood "conveyor belt" has the same wood finish as the surrounding floor.  It also is the electricity source for work stations through electromagnetic induction.

The is the VW cargo tram using the existing tram system to minimize traffic burden on existing roads.

Here is the video of the factory:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nd5WGLWNllA

Vélib' in Paris

Velib:
Means Vélo Liberté (bicycle liberty)

Vision:
1. Cut 40% cars by 2020
2. Take away car space for other means of transportation

The System:
1. Affordable (1 EUR/day or 29 EUR/year subscription fee)
2. First 30 mins free (to encourage short trips)
3. 20,000 bikes, 1,400 bikes stations, 50,000-100,000 riders/day
4. Accessible. Riders always less than 300 yards from a station
5. Stations near other transporation hubs
6. Operates 24/7

Methodology:
1. Divided Paris into blocks of 400SM
2. Analyzed population, job density, businesses and potential demands
3. Initial success would be critical to succeed in the future

Finance:
Advertising Agency JC Decaux provides bikes, infrastructure and maintenance for 10 years. In return, it gets advertising board locations from the city.

Maintenance:
1. Bike locations and maintenance tracked by central computer
2. Trucks redistribute bikes to replenish stations
3. A barge as floating repair shop on the Seine, with bike storage along the river bank for bike pick-ups and drop-offs.
4. Additional 15 mins free if bikes are dropped off at rare locations e.g. hill tops, and 15 mins free extra if a station doesn't have a bike, and a screen shows available bikes in the next station

Problems:
1. Vandalism
2. Rider number drops when rains
3. Stolen bikes

Social Benefits:
1. Parisians socialize around stations. Stations are #1 pick-up point for singles
2. Biking became fashionable, and bike ownership increased 50%
3. Streets are accessible to everyone. Flourish activities such as Friday night rollerblading

Spin-off:
Autolib'. An electric car sharing program in operation by the end of 2009



Sources:
1. The webcast of "Paris: Vélo Liberté" at http://www.e2-series.com/
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%C3%A9lib%27

Cheonggyecheon, Korea

History
1. Cheonggyecheon means Clear Water Stream
2. Runs through the city center
3. Significant to Koreans because it contributed to Seoul chosen for capital. (Pungsu location theory of backing by mountains and fronting water.)
4. After the Korean War, it became dirty and smelly because of shanty towns for refugees and vendors along the river.
5. In the 60s, to mitigate traffic, it was paved over for a 12-lane double-decker expressway by Hyundai.
6. Supported by then Hyundai CEO Lee Myung-Bak (current president) in his Seoul mayoral campaign to restore the river.
7. Demolition began in 2002, and construction finished within 2 years (vs. 5 years in original timeline.)

Traffic During Construction:
1. Extended subway operation hours
2. Rerouted bus lines away from construction site
3. Asked businesses to begin in non-congested hours
4. Put central bus lanes on roads
5. Raised fees on government parking spaces
6. Traffic flow improved slightly: 21.7km/h before vs. 22.8km/h during construction

Environmental Benefits
1. Brings fresh wind streams to downtown
2. Reduces downtown temperature by 3.5°C
3. Restored the ecosystem
4. Public transportation usage increases while car entering downtown decreases.
5. Changed national psych on public transportation. More money directed from road system to railway system. More central bus lanes, and discount fares for long commute
6. More "Road Diet". Sinking road spaces for pedestrian friendly spaces.

Social and Economical Benefits
1. Became a gathering place again. More than 24,000 social and cultural activities held.
2. A catalyst for revitalization, and new buildings constructed along the river.
3. Reconnected north and south halves of downtown.

Paradigm shift:
1. Old paradigm believes traffic behaving like liquid, blocking it would flood other places.
2. To ease traffic is to supply more roads.
3. To remove roads is to create congestion in the surrounding.
4. New thinking is traffic behaving like gas. It expands in bigger spaces and contracts in smaller spaces.
5. The supply of more roads wouldn't ease traffic but generate more demand -- "Induced Demand"
6. When road spaces reduce, traffic disappears. People adjust to new traffic environment.

Criticism:
1. The source of the water is pumped from Han River. It uses electricity from fossil fuel which emits CO2.
2. Poor people not included in the initial plan. Poor people, homeless and vendors were kicked out.
3. The livelihood of remaining vendors is destroyed because of the bus reroute and less car traffic.
4. Failed to achieve cultural, historical and environmental goals because of rush schedule (finished before the end of mayor's term).
5. Became a park with a stream.

Sources:
1. The Webcast of "Seoul: The Stream of Consciousness" at http://www.e2-series.com/
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheonggyecheon