Bouncing Here and There and Everywhere

November 26, 2014 5:23 AM

TFL Future Streets Incubator is like the Cult of Skaro for transport planning, creating innovative ways to improve London's transport infrastructure. These include such things as turning parking spots into tiny parks and cycle scramble green lights, but the Jewel in the crown of these schemes is The Bounceway , the world's longest commuter trampoline.
posted by Just this guy, y'know (9 comments total)

Weird. The rest of the ideas on that page are interesting and have great potential -- I'm especially intrigued by the e-parking for the disabled, which sounds like it has all sorts of follow-on projects. But a trampoline? Concussion central. How did that even get on the same page as the other proposals?
posted by Mogur at 5:41 AM on November 26, 2014

Weird. The rest of the ideas on that page tend to being at once dull and overly elaborate, and seem mostly useless. But the world's longest commuter trampoline? Simple genius. How did that even get into the same transport planning committee as the others?
posted by sfenders at 6:05 AM on November 26, 2014 [2 favorites]

apparently there is already a trampoline road in Russia, but it seems to be more "art installation" than "valid mode of transportation"
posted by grandsham at 6:55 AM on November 26, 2014

The cycle scramble light is great. There are a few like it for pedestrians in SF’s financial district and Oakland’s Chinatown, allowing full control of the entire crosswalk long enough for a diagonal crossing.
posted by migurski at 8:13 AM on November 26, 2014

I'm especially intrigued by the e-parking for the disabled, which sounds like it has all sorts of follow-on projects.

Don't be. It's a proposal by Westminster Council, whose interest in anything parking-ticket-related never ends well. I've yet to work out precisely what dark genius is at work that will allow them to use this to increase their income from parking fines even further but trust me, that's absolutely the ultimate goal. Genuine concern for the disabled will have nothing to do with it.

Put it this way - if we were living in the Star Wars universe that particular line item would read something like:

Imperial Government
A new, mobile, mining platform with lifts and obstruction-free walkways. With giant lasers that can be activated at the press of a button, this "stellar" idea will empower disabled workers wishing to break into the mining industry throughout the galaxy.
posted by garius at 8:53 AM on November 26, 2014 [1 favorite]

Nice title, but it looks like this proposal won't give us the full bouncy power of the Gummi Bears
posted by Gor-ella at 9:03 AM on November 26, 2014 [1 favorite]

what dark genius is at work that will allow them to use this to increase their income from parking fines


"E-parking permits will communicate with sensors embedded in disabled resident parking bays to provide better, more targeted enforcement of parking regulations and ensure kerbside access for Blue Badge holders."

So it looks like you restrict users of disabled spaces to people with the E-permit device or whatever.
So on the positive for everyone (ish) side it means that as soon as you park in a disabled space without this device/permit thing then they can swoop in and fine you right away. For those who used to be allowed to park there with a blue badge, maybe they get ticketed anyway. Maybe before, if your friend gives you a lift you can still use the blue badge, but now, friends car isn't covered by this scheme, doesn't have the permit or whatever, so bam right to fines!

So sure, it starts off protecting disabled spaces, but in the space of the paragraph they go on to say "E-permits have the potential to be used in other types of bays to improve parking management across the Capital."
So, new ways to fine you for not parking correctly.

Anyway, TRAMAMPOLINES!
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 9:43 AM on November 26, 2014

You used to be able to find more details of the Bounceway scheme on the design team's blog but all the posts have mysteriously disappeared since yesterday when they were being passed around twitter. Still, they exist in the Google cache and contain what look like the initial design notes, including "could trampolines power something", and some later sketches which suggest the Bounceway will go at this junction near the Tate Modern.

I think the bounceway sounds like a super fun piece of public art, but I don't see it as the potential alternative commuter route that the designers do, because it just doesn't seem in any practical as a form of transport. How many trampolines do you need? How far could you bounce without getting exhausted? Can you have more than a handful of people on there without risking injury? Maybe I am the glummest of commuters but I am more excited by the prospect of trying out the cycle green scramble junction, which if it became more widely used in the UK might actually improve my commute.

And Westminster made £38million from parking charges a few years ago, so I would not be surprised if the e-parking was ultimately a way to push that up even further and plug the holes in their budget. Hopefully this will be a side effect of also making it easier for blue badge holders to find a space.
posted by penguinliz at 10:01 AM on November 26, 2014 [2 favorites]

I was wondering how much bicycle traffic volume you'd need for the cyclist green light thing to be other than counter-productive, but whatever that level is, parts of London as of last year were probably well beyond it. I'm a bit envious.
posted by sfenders at 2:24 PM on November 26, 2014