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Archive for November 25th, 2009

Shopping Timing

In the book I discuss special “Sabbath timing” patterns for traffic signals in Los Angeles.

From the Washington Business Journal comes word of new patterns for a more secular holiday: Black Friday:

The Virginia Department of Transportation will alter traffic signals at 14 shopping centers in Northern Virginia to accommodate the increase in shoppers on Black Friday and during the holiday season.

Using traffic data from previous years, VDOT will implement time- and location-specific signal timing at 188 intersections.

The timing changes are intended to minimize backups near shopping centers and maximize traffic flow around them.

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Posted on Wednesday, November 25th, 2009 at 6:20 pm by: Tom Vanderbilt
2 Comments. Click here to leave a comment.

Lacking Clarity in Thailand

Richard Stampfle writes:

This is a true picture of a bus in Thailand used to deliver school children to functions. It is representative of many vehicles in Thailand, it is not an exception. I have hundreds more photos I could have used. While we may recognize that the driver cannot see you will find it strange to learn that most Thais find no problem with this picture. I have asked several what is wrong with the picture; one commented that it should be Liverpool not Manchester United on the Glass. One felt the colors were somewhat gaudy but that is a matter of taste. No one commented on the safety issue. When I showed a similar picture at a meeting of the Thailand Global Road Safety Partnership the only suggestion was that I should do some research on the subject and gather sufficient statistics to get the attention of law makers — if indeed this was actually a problem. (There seemed to be some doubt.)

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Posted on Wednesday, November 25th, 2009 at 7:30 am by: Tom Vanderbilt
4 Comments. Click here to leave a comment.
Traffic Tom Vanderbilt

How We Drive is the companion blog to Tom Vanderbilt’s New York Times bestselling book, Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us), published by Alfred A. Knopf in the U.S. and Canada, Penguin in the U.K, and in languages other than English by a number of other fine publishers worldwide.

Please send tips, news, research papers, links, photos (bad road signs, outrageous bumper stickers, spectacularly awful acts of driving or parking or anything traffic-related), or ideas for my Slate.com Transport column to me at: info@howwedrive.com.

For publicity inquiries, please contact Kate Runde at Vintage: krunde@randomhouse.com.

For editorial inquiries, please contact Zoe Pagnamenta at The Zoe Pagnamenta Agency: zoe@zpagency.com.

For speaking engagement inquiries, please contact
Jenna Meulemans at the Knopf Speaker Bureau.

Order Traffic from:

Amazon | B&N | Borders
Random House | Powell’s

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Traffic UK
Drive-on-the-left types can order the book from Amazon.co.uk.

For UK publicity enquiries please contact Rosie Glaisher at Penguin.

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