Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
that permit deliveries from about 10 a.m. to noon on one side of the street and from
1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on the other side. New York City Transit
'
s
“
Select Bus
”
service
uses the lanes from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
20.4.3 Effects
The travel time bene
ts and reduced congestion resulting from restricting truck trips
should be estimated for the hours that the restrictions would apply. These bene
ts
can be translated into monetary terms, and then should be compared to the costs
resulting from rescheduling deliveries and pickups. Time-of-day restrictions can
pose problems for time-sensitive deliveries such as bakeries and restaurants, and
provisions for these deliveries should be provided where practical.
20.5 Implications of Regulatory Restrictions
Traf
c and road use regulations are generally applied to reduce congestion by
increasing the available roadway capacity. But they also can be used to reduce
traf
c demand and achieve a better demand-capacity balance. Some key implica-
tions of regulatory restrictions follow.
20.5.1 Traf
c-Free Streets and Zones
Pedestrian/transit streets and zones have reduced central area traf
c congestion in
many European cities. They have also concurrently enhanced the historical/archi-
tectural character of their historic centers
Within US and Canadian cities these applications have generally improved the
urban environment, but usually have remained congestion-neutral. But congestion
was reduced where the use of diagonal streets was removed from the traf
c network
and converted from vehicular use to pedestrian use, or where transit-only streets
were created.
The 2011 experience in the Manhattan CBD of converting street segments car-
rying vehicular traf
ed complex intersections, and
reduced delays to motorists, and bus passengers. Pedestrian zones were created along
sections of Broadway in Manhattan. Converting sections of Broadway to exclusive
pedestrian use simpli
c to only pedestrians use simpli
ed the traf
c con
fl
icts at intersections in Times Square and
Herald Square, substantially reduced traf
c backups and delays on the Avenue of the
Americas, and has created open spaces for visitors, employees, and shoppers. Fig-
ure
20.1
shows a photo of the Macy
s and Herald Square pedestrian plaza at
Broadway and 33rd Street in Manhattan with tables, chairs, umbrellas and plantings.
'
