Morning Metro: PD Nabs Suspected Car Thief, the MARTA Compromise, and Hartsfield’s “Pandemic” Ranking
Decatur Metro | July 24, 2012
- Decatur PD arrests suspected car thief [Patch]
- Residential street repair work coming [Decatur Minute]
- Where it all went wrong: the MARTA compromise of 1971 [AtlantaMag]
- Manhattan sends rule-breaking cyclists to class [NYT]
- The Varsity on list of Weirdest Restaurants [ABC]
- Hartsfield may be “busiest”, but ranks 8th in “most likely to spread pandemic” [CoDesign]
Infographic courtesy of Co.Design
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Once NYC has re-educated those pesky cyclists, they will finally appreciate how magnanimous drivers are to suffer their presence on the roads.
I have a new theory about “pesky cyclists” that I’ve been sitting on for a good few weeks, waiting for an opening. Tell me what you think…
Basically, we can bicker all we want about the behavior of cyclists and what’s acceptable/unacceptable, etc. But the recent comparison by someone here to the calm, collected behavior of Copenhagen cyclists started me thinking about how environments self-select behavior – and even riders.
I’m sure few would disagree that Atlanta’s roads are not all that well-suited to cyclists. It’s a hazardous and dangerous environment…especially compared to a place like Copenhagen. So to expect that riders would behave anything like they do in Denmark is ridiculous. The easiest way to rationalize the difference is just to say “Oh, well American cyclists are just RUDE.” and be done with it. But it’s a lot more complicated than that. If you support and utilize a transportation infrastructure that is hazardous to cyclists, the cyclists who will take to the road are going to over-index among risk-takers and more aggressive riders.
Basically, if you dream of a world where cyclists are courteous and low-key, you need to create an environment that allows them to be so.
Well said sir – I could not agree more
Never thought of it that way but it makes sense. Certainly, the relative lack of bike lanes makes it somewhat harder to stay out of the way of cars, which surely contributes to the cyclist/driver conflict. Not saying that’s the only cause of conflict, just that it contributes.
I think a similar analysis could be applied to automobile drivers, and their rudeness, although you would need to mention other factors such as (possibly) psychological factors. I think environmental factors are often involved in road rage incidents.
good insight DM. this notion that environments self-select behavior can be applied to a broad range human behavior, including the effect racism has on its victims.
Car chase in Decatur that resulted in hit bystander vehicle and drawn guns? Back on July 9? I’m surprised we never heard anything about that on DM. Or did we and I missed it?
Excellent article on MARTA and true. Beyond the things they mention about race and white flight: The Marta system was originally designed to include Gwinnett, Cobb and Clayton with the point of getting suburban people into downtown. When these counties did not vote for Marta, it should have been redesigned to move people AROUND and WITHIN Fulton and Dekalb, but it wasn’t. As it is, MARTA is a system for moving people IN and OUT of the counties that pay for it, providing short shrift to those who want to move within.
Yup. My elderly neighbors in Decatur remembered an efficient bus that took them directly to Downtown Atlanta. After MARTA, the bus was discontinued for a hub and spoke system that required a bus ride to a train station making the trip lengthy and hard for them to negotiate. So they stopped going Downtown.
I remember an efficient bus (the No. 36) that used to take me directly to the Arts Center station in 25 minutes. From there, it was two train stops to my office. Now the 36 meanders through Va-Hi in a leisurely 35 minutes or so and drops me one station farther away, making it not really feasible as a daily commute. On reflection, what GAJoe says: MARTA should be utilized to help Fulton and DeKalb people get around, since we have been paying all along!
That is exactly why I so suport the Beltline project.
According to a post on reddit, someone was car jacked last night near Commerce and Clairemont.
http://www.reddit.com/r/Atlanta/comments/x27bm/friend_carjacked_in_decatur_tonight/
Scary! We live on Commerce. I’ve generally felt pretty safe, but I’m not crazy about walking home from downtown later at night…too many empty parking lots/quiet spots. I also noticed several streetlights out on Commerce; I guess I call the city about that?
Re: streetlights – you can put in an online request on the City’s home page.