DRIVE TIME
Game lets players alleviate — or even create — traffic snarls
By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Transportation Writer
So you think you can solve O'ahu's traffic mess better than our so-called experts? Here's your chance to try.
The latest addition to the SimCity games is all about transportation. Called the SimCity 4 Rush Hour Expansion Pack, players take charge of vehicles, roads, rail, air and even waterways.
Eagames.com
Company officials say the No. 1 request they received from players was for more control over transportation. Now, they can create elevated trains, widen the highways or make a ferry service.
The SimCity 4 Rush Hour Expansion Pack gives players control of roads, rail, air and even waterways.
Players earn points by pleasing the occupants. Raise the bus fares and watch them complain. Build more highways and watch them get full.
You can even cause car accidents and train derailments to snarl traffic. No word, though, if the game comes with a bus strike option.
Fewer road bumps
Speed humps, curbs and other traffic-calming devices — which a lot of people love to hate — are getting a makeover in some parts of the world.
In Canada, the devices are being redesigned to do their traffic-slowing work without being so intrusive. The most successful new approach involves narrowing intersections, especially by extending curbs.
Officials in Ottawa, where more than 300 intersections have been redesigned, say the new approach meets with much more community support than the old bumps-in-the-road.
Another surprisingly successful approach has involved removing stop signs. In Toronto, officials found that installing a lot of stop signs resulted in increased speeding in mid-block to compensate for the stop.
After a survey of streets, Toronto took out 10 percent of all stop signs. A study later found that speeding and pollution were reduced, and there was no effect on collision rates.
Couldn't do car-free here
It's a good thing that Honolulu didn't have any big plans for the International Car-Free Day celebration held Sept. 22. Without any buses and cars, what would have been left, except a lot of peace and quiet?
More than 1,000 cities, towns and communities in more than 20 countries across Europe participated in this year's event as cyclists, in-line skaters, bicyclists and pedestrians replaced cars from Amsterdam to Athens.
Reducing aircraft noise
Here's an item that should provide some (small) comfort to everyone in Hawai'i who has to put up with airplane noise at one time or another.
The Federal Aviation Administration has created a new center to study ways to reduce aircraft noise and air pollution.
The new center will be led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and draw on experts from seven other universities and more than two dozen corporations to identify solutions for existing and anticipated aircraft noise.
The center will begin operation in October with a budget starting at $1 million a year.
Reach Mike Leidemann at 525-5460 or mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com.
