In the second in our series on driving schemes, we look at roads where pedestrians have vehicles share the same space. Could it work in your town?
What's the big idea?
Shared Space is a concept pioneered by the Dutch traffic management expert Hans Monderman (now deceased). Monderman's idea was that the excess of visual stimuli that drivers have to contend with was hindering, not helping, safe driving. Without all the signage telling you what to do where, drivers have to read the road ahead and become more responsive.
Shared Space was first trialled in the Dutch village of Makkingen in 1998. A larger scheme was installed in the town of Drachten in 2003. Traffic lights and signage were removed. A major junction, which once had lights on each exit, and pedestrian crossings over each branch, was cleared of all its markings. And pavements were lowered to the same level as the road surface. Drivers entering the junction must negotiate with one another, and pedestrians, in order to clear the junction.
Surprisingly the scheme has been an almost unqualified success. Drachten now has a better traffic flow, and accidents have fallen from eight per year to a statistical zero.
The success of the Drachten scheme has led to similar developments elsewhere in the world, including Australia and Germany.
In Britain the first small-scale Shared Space scheme opened in Brighton in 2007. New Road is a popular entertainment destination lined with bars and theatres, opposite the city's historic Royal Pavilion.
Brighton and Hove City Council resurfaced the entire street (pavement and roadway) with block paving, so that pedestrians and vehicles were on the same level. Only a slight gradation of stone, and the position of street furniture, gives a visual clue as to where pavement ends and street begins.
The Brighton scheme has resulted in significantly lower volumes of motorised traffic (93 per cent down), travelling at lower speeds - an average 10 mph - and a corresponding rise in cycle traffic (a 93 per cent increase). Pedestrian traffic has increased by 162 per cent.
Similar schemes have also been introduced in central London (Kensington High Street and Seven Dials, Covent Garden) and a more comprehensive scheme is being built in Ravenswood near Ipswich.
Arguments for
Better traffic flow. The removal of traffic lights allows traffic to flow more freely. That means less pollution and shorter journey times. It also saves councils money on the maintenance of expensive traffic control systems.
Reduced accidents. When cars approach junctions, they do so at lower speeds. Drivers, disorientated by the lack of signage, have to concentrate more carefully on the roads. Better concentration equals better safety.
Aesthetics. City centres have become cluttered with ugly signs, red routes, yellow lines, pedestrian crossings and traffic light pillars. Shared Space removes most of these unnecessary visual distractions, allowing for pleasant landscaping. In Drachten, for instance, the roundabout has been replaced with decorative fountains.
Not nannying. Drivers are sick and tired of taxes, regulations and signs telling them what to do. Shared Space is an antidote to the nanny state approach to driving. It recognises drivers' intelligence and allows them, not the traffic lights, to make the decision of when to enter the junction.
Arguments against
Stealth pedestrianisation. Brighton cabbies will tell you that increased pedestrian use on New Road is nothing to do with the Shared Space concept. They argue that most private drivers don't realise that they can drive down the road, because it looks so much like a pedestrian zone. Certainly taxis and commercial vehicles greatly outnumber private cars.
Disabled pedestrians. Groups campaigning on behalf of the deaf, blind and other pedestrians with disabilities have criticised shared space schemes. Assistance dogs are trained to recognise raised kerbs and barriers. Pelican crossings are easily identifiable to blind people because of bumps in the paved surface. Removing these visual and tactile aids are a step backwards in provision for people with disabilities.
Idiots. Shared Space schemes rely on the intelligence and goodwill of the law-abiding majority. But there is no compensating for idiots. There is a small percentage of drivers who view the absence of signage as an invitation to drive as recklessly as they like.
Increased familiarity. Critics argue that Shared Space schemes only work because of their novelty. Drivers used to familiar signage are caught unawares and have to use their wits. But if Shared Space schemes became the norm, drivers would get used to them and pay less attention.
Related links
Smart idea? Have your say...
Is Shared Space common sense, or a recipe for disaster? Would you feel safe crossing the road in Drachten? As a driver, have you encountered Shared Space schemes? Share your thoughts with us below.
More motoring schemes and ideas
Why is it that the simplest ideas are always better, i think this idea of removing all the road furniture is spot on. When the M40/M42 junction was built some-one decided that the M40 should join the M42 from the right, i.e. the so called fast lane.What a brilliant idea the traffic in the outside lane of one motorway is merged with traffic on the second motorway all travelling at the same speed (more or less) this idea was deemed unsafe, downright dangerous and even sheer folly at the time but once put into practice it works. Instead of traffic trying to accelerate to get up to the same speed as traffic on the motorway, by coming in from the right ,it is already travelling at the same speed there-fore no problem.It is the same with this scheme give drivers there their common sense back and the scheme will work. J.P. Banbury
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We have an example of the every man for himself idea in Bideford. A great deal of money spent on block paving to pedestrianise an area,then essential delivery vehicles sinking into this same surface, causing the bricks to dip and rise and become exceedingly hazzardous.
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I shall get my penny-farthing out, One could do with a good galavant about brighton.
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Mr Hans Monderman didn't get run over did he ?
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yes theres one of those roads in chichester high street!!! it doesnt work at all!!! loads of accidents!!
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Brilliant idea but the Nanny State will never have it. There are FAR too many traffic lights and all too often people are left sitting there whilst no traffic actually flows. Its obvious that people in Councils and Police have far too much time on their hands by sticking signs and aggrevating lights everywhere. If this was introduced imagine the job losses of all the jobsworths who would then, genuinely be able to say, "we have nothing better to do"! Traffic lights serve as a revenue source too because we all get sick of waiting so we try and berat the light..and where theres a camera, we get fined. Stationary signs and lights keep people in work and make money and thats why this system will never be allowed to go ahead.
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Greece has been doing it for years but it wasn't a scheme, nobody had bothered to put any signs up or paint markings in the road in the first place. Most pedestrians have no concept of pavements because there are so many cars parked on them, people can't use them anyway : - )
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where in ken high street ? i work there every day and its just buses and taxis
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There is a shared space outside Sloane Square tube station in London, and the taxis seem to think they can roar along mindless of anyone else, and blow their horns at anyone who happens to be in "their" way. These schemes rely on mutual co-operation, but that may be beyond most British road users (especially taxis and, dare I say it..? bicycles). Maybe as more of them are developed, people will get to understand them and make allowances for other people...
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This is one of the most dangerous ideas going. RNIB and Guide Dogs for the Blind are campaigning quite rightly against this totally ludicrous idea. Whichever cretin came up with this idea should be taken out and made to try and encounter a road like this with a guide dog or a wheel chair. Is it going to take a disabled person to be killed or a child maimed by a thoughtless driver before the politicians thinking about such ideas wake up to the reality. I urge all right minded people to campaign against such schemes.
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