Framework 6: Workload and Speed V
The people that make up the traffic stream can make a big difference
Speed studies performed in Orlando can get weird. We have a bizarre combination of retirees, tourists, and time sensitive on-site jobs. That often leads to really strange speed outcomes.
Aging and Speed
You would think the retirees are our biggest hassle, and they do have an impact. To the northwest, it’s not that far to the Villages. We’re getting into the later boomers now, who were often hippies in their youth. They aren’t quite as hesitant as the previous retirees used to be, but the perceptual decline is real. Giving up your keys is not easy, and the folks from the rebellious 60’s are not taking it well. The lack of any viable transit doesn’t help.
Driving in those areas gets bizarre. Besides the occasional golf cart, the speed variability goes through the roof. The young folks drive like they have somewhere to go. The old ones drive as cautiously as they can because they’re barely managing. The peak hour is usually right after 2:30 because they want to get off the road before dark. No one walks because it’s hot enough to be physically dangerous and there isn’t anywhere close by to go. All that means that speed is all over the place and safety is a real struggle.
Tourists
The southern part of O-town has become infamous for the Orlando turn: folks trying to make a turn from the farthest lane across 3 lanes of moving traffic because they are lost and are about to miss their destination. Couple that with low income wage earners that will get docked or fired for being late to work and things can get very unpredictable. That’s where the most puzzling speed counts were found.
Here’s an example:
This is Turkey Lake Road, North of Sand Lake Commons. Normally, the speed profiles for a road are pretty similar going both ways, but not here! Yes, these are both taken at the exact same location, on a straight road, halfway between the signals.
This is a north/south corridor that parallels I-4 in the tourist area and the count site sits between the local hospital and a WalMart. My first reaction was to send the data collection folks out to count it again, but the counts up and down the corridor are similar. The one just to the south is even worse! It took me nearly two weeks to figure out why this was happening.
Turns out there’s a really problematic interchange just to the north of this location. It’s not too terrible to get through it southbound, but it’s miserable going northbound. It’s so bad, they’re currently replacing it with a DDI and a flyover to get around the area. Southbound is mostly locals. Northbound is mostly tourists. The locals who work at the hospital know how bad it is and avoid the northbound direction like the plague. Going southbound isn’t quite as bad and most of the hospital day shift folks hit it while the tourists are still sleeping. There’s a back way to the interstate that avoids the interchange that the locals use going home. The tourists don’t know to avoid the area to the north and Google isn’t much of a help. It’s easy enough to come up from the south to get to the WalMart, but they’re usually lost and staring at their GPS. When they’re done, they usually just go back south to their hotel, and by then they’re not quite as lost. The locals know where they’re going and pick their speed based on what they see in terms of the road’s cross section—which is pretty wide open here. They’re perfectly happy passing the odd tourist or two and have somewhere else to be. The lost tourists pick their speed so they can find the landmarks they don’t know—and that’s a lot slower. Just because they’re slower, I wouldn’t count on them paying more attention to pedestrians or cyclists.
So what? How does that apply elsewhere?
Of course, most communities have small touristy areas, but even if you don’t this effect still matters. There are a few places in every community that people end up required to go, but only once in a blue moon. One example is the courthouse. People who get summoned for jury duty or have business to do there, are not likely to be the people that are there every day. I’ve heard several people who work near county courthouses complain bitterly about how badly people drive around there. They’re inattentive and unpredictable. They’re looking for street signs, not people. They go faster than they should when they get their bearings, but go slower again when they lose them. A good wayfinding strategy coupled with pretty aggressive traffic calming initiative may be in order. It’s a great place for thoughtfully placed raised crosswalks.
I suspect the same things will end up happening when automated vehicles begin to dominate. Most of them drive like your grandma and it doesn’t take that many to clog up a roadway. Everyone gets stuck behind them and all go the same speed. This may end up irritating the human drivers around them. We still don’t know how well AV’s will handle human conflicts, though I’m pushing the industry to make sure that the car gives the same priority to detecting and avoiding human beings that our own brains do—and that’s pretty significant.
Up Next:
This is the last of the mental framework posts on speed, but we have one more mental framework left to go, and it’s the most mysterious. It deals with the way we use our memory and how that impacts our senses. Look for that late next week.
For the next few months, my travel schedule is getting quite busy, which means I’m probably going to drop back to once a week (seriously, this time). If I have any friends in the Hartford, Connecticut area, I’m presenting at UConn in a little over a week and I’d love to have a few extra hands for the next BrickCity workshop. Send me a message and I’ll pass along the details!