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03-13-08, 04:16 AM
Preaching to the choir here but if any of you get the chance to watch (and friends and family) "The woman who stops traffic" do so as it's an excellent insight in just how much of a death grip the average motorist has on their steering wheel. Also, just how many excuses they'll come up with just to resist change even if the alternatives are demonstrably quicker than driving.
Basically, the series is about a conflict resolution/management consultant who is asked to try and un-jam three completely grid locked places. A village (Marlow, Buckinghamshire), a town (Boston, Lincolnshire) and a city (Durham, County Durham). Very interesting and a little frustrating to watch (Lots of "I'd drive less if there was less traffic" comments).
www.channel4.com/lifestyle/green/woman_stops_traffic/ (http://www.channel4.com/lifestyle/green/woman_stops_traffic/)
The TV programs are available free online here - http://www.channel4.com/4od/index.html
Just to give some idea the episode about the city of Durham. All the facilities are available and convenient (park and ride, good public transport, cycle lanes, pedestrian facilities, etc) but very few people actually used them. They preferred to sit in single occupant vehicles in bumper to bumper traffic.
It was the same in the village and the town but the complaints were that there were no facilities. Makes you wonder about water, horses and drinking :rolleyes:
Anyhoo, lots of pester power seemed to have changed a few key attitudes and word of mouth did the rest, i.e., get a few committed car users out of their cars and maybe the rest will follow. Definitely worth watching the whole series. Changing attitudes in a village and a city was possible but it seems the fattest town in uk (the UK being the fattest country in Europe) was the most apathetic.
STRONGLY recommend you folks get as many people as possible to watch the first and last parts of the series. Then get them to watch the episode on Boston, Lincolnshire, to show people what extreme apathy can do.
http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&safe=off&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=%22woman+who+stops+traffic%22&spell=1
Basically, the series is about a conflict resolution/management consultant who is asked to try and un-jam three completely grid locked places. A village (Marlow, Buckinghamshire), a town (Boston, Lincolnshire) and a city (Durham, County Durham). Very interesting and a little frustrating to watch (Lots of "I'd drive less if there was less traffic" comments).
www.channel4.com/lifestyle/green/woman_stops_traffic/ (http://www.channel4.com/lifestyle/green/woman_stops_traffic/)
The TV programs are available free online here - http://www.channel4.com/4od/index.html
Just to give some idea the episode about the city of Durham. All the facilities are available and convenient (park and ride, good public transport, cycle lanes, pedestrian facilities, etc) but very few people actually used them. They preferred to sit in single occupant vehicles in bumper to bumper traffic.
It was the same in the village and the town but the complaints were that there were no facilities. Makes you wonder about water, horses and drinking :rolleyes:
Anyhoo, lots of pester power seemed to have changed a few key attitudes and word of mouth did the rest, i.e., get a few committed car users out of their cars and maybe the rest will follow. Definitely worth watching the whole series. Changing attitudes in a village and a city was possible but it seems the fattest town in uk (the UK being the fattest country in Europe) was the most apathetic.
STRONGLY recommend you folks get as many people as possible to watch the first and last parts of the series. Then get them to watch the episode on Boston, Lincolnshire, to show people what extreme apathy can do.
http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&safe=off&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=%22woman+who+stops+traffic%22&spell=1