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I noticed three uniformed HPD officers at the Hotel and Fort Street crosswalk a few minutes ago. Two had Segways, and one was on a bike.

I overheard one saying that they are giving out warnings to pedestrians who crossed against the light. Education is always good, especially with a few thousand new pedestrians on the Mall. Hotel Street is a transit road, and there’s at least one bus rolling through every few minutes.

Image courtesy of GeishaBot through a Creative Commons license.

Related posts on billso.com

• 3 August 2008: Welcome to the crosswalk
• 13 July 2008: My sidewalk nightmare
• 6 June 2008: Can the blind hear hybrid cars?

I’ve spent a week in Orange County without a car. It was a nice change of pace. Anaheim is walkable, at least around the Anaheim Convention Center and Downtown Disney.

More people are walking into downtown Honolulu these days. I’m seeing more bicycles, mopeds, scooters and motorcycles, too.

Seattle has started closing streets to cars, to help protect pedestrians (see Seattle Starts Car-Free Closures).

In most American cities, the car rules supreme, at least until Google reinvents the electric car (see Google Moves to Reinvent Transportation).

In the interest of public safety, we present the following two articles. Read and learn.

Memo To: New pedestrians, In re: Your skills provides a long and handy primer to basic pedestrian and mass transit etiquette and safety with tips like these:

• The crosswalk will not protect you from cars.
• Get a bus pass or have your change ready as your board.
• Try not to bump other people with that big rolling bag or backpack as you…
• Move to the back of the bus. Please, move to the back of the bus.

NY State Sen. Carl Kruger proposes ban on handheld devices addresses a new social problem: the distracted pedestrian.

• Don’t send text messages while you walk.
• Turn down the volume on your iPod so you can hear the traffic. Oh, I said, “TURN DOWN THE…”

Image courtesy of woesis through a Creative Commons license.

Related articles and pages on billso.com

• Honolulu mass transit
• 28 June 2008: Google wants Georgia to get some exercise
• 12 June 2008: Do kids and students need cell phones?
• 19 March 2008: Running around