What can be learned from urban mobility in Prague? | City Unboxed with George Liu

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Situated on the Vltava River, Prague is the capital and the largest city in the Czech Republic. It is home to 1.3 million residents and claiming to have one of the best public transportation systems in Europe. George Liu - Urban Mobility Researcher - was very curious to discover it for himself. In this video, part of the City Unboxed series produced in collaboration with the Urban Cycling Institute, George gives us a tour of Prague by walking, cycling and public transit to finally give the city a Human Mobility Score!

#UMX #cityunboxed #urbanmobility #urbanism
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[jpachta]

The line on a crosswalk is for visually impairment people to help them safely cross the street using their white stick.

4:53 And you missed the edges of the pavement there are two axes with special tiny bumps: one as edge of the pavement before the crosswalk to inform such person that he/she is about step on the crosswalk, and the second axe that is in the axe with the white line to coordinate the walk with the direction of the crosswalk. Those bumbs can be felt via feets by walking on them.

Both are very common in all over the Czechia.

[ArielCruzPizarro]

First video I've seen of this series and the channel, and it's wonderful to be able to condense, summarize, present and show different facets of public transport (of Prague in this case), in such a nice and entertaining way, with many beautiful places. I really appreciate this video, I think Prague is a beautiful city :) George's way of presenting is also very cool, greetings to everyone from Chile!

[esgee]

i think pragues paving stones on sidewalks, similar to those in portugal are amazing. why? think about it, you don't need all the energy, special big equipment, or time to replace sidewalk that is made of concrete. you do just need access to lots and lots of precut stones and can send an army of workers out to replaced paving stones damaged by a tree root or earth movement or water/ice. and for however it makes it more difficult for the mobility impaired, these sidewalks are amazing.

[berunaable]

Great video and a great presenter! 👌👌 Now let's get to work on improving the Human Mobility score in Prague! :)

[ondrej_kraus]

Those lines in crosswalk are used by blind people

[Obuwho]

I liked the parts where there was a 'story line, ' like where you went to the old city (giving the line number etc.). Some of the other parts like the your trip on the ferry seemed out of place because they lacked context.

I think it would add to the videos if you would include some simple statistics / quantitative visuals that support your decisions on the human mobility score criteria.

[tlk]

Yeah, that sounds about right. The haphazardly placed and designed cycling lanes are definitely the worst thing mentioned here, and generally, unless you are in the outskirts of the city, cycling is just a terrible experience here in Prague. If you're willing to walk though, then it gets much better, especially as infrustructure of all kinds is within comfortable walking distance mostly everywhere in the city. And despite the common complaints from locals about it always being late (by not more than two minutes on average mind you), the transit is one of the best in the world.

So yeah, this is definitely a fair review 🙂 Cheers form Prague!

[salvandijk]

Such a fun video! Made me feel a bit like I was on holiday:)

[etbadaboum]

What are the plans the city intend to implement regarding cycling in the future?

[pcongre]

06:00 I don't think it is the deepest one in the EU anymore, though, right?
(I thought there was a deeper one in e.g. Barcelona? Called El coll la teixonera
And in a few years an even deeper one will open in Sthlm called Sofia)

[adamknott]

Wait, what about the 4th category to make it a score out of 20?

[jirikadlec]

The two narrow concrete tracks at the riverfront are only good for cycling early in the morning or in the winter season when it is not crowded by people slowly walking or drinking.
I wish my city Prague could become more bike friendly!
And I cannot give the public transport 5/5. The trams are often overcrowded and late. Maybe 3/5 is my rating as a Prague local.

[letecmig]

Regarding cycling infrastructure etc. The bottom line is that PRG is on the hills. Thanks to the profile, bicycle can simply never be a regular mode of transport here for regular residents in a way it is in flat cities. Yes, of course, I can go on bike to my office from time to time, but its an athletic achievement rather than something regular person can start the workday with (200 altitude meters measuring only ups on 5 km). Same with most trips here.
That is why cycling will never be a 'regular' mode of transport within the city.
If there was significant public demand for extensive network of cycle lanes, they would have been already in place. But its not the case.
Fore 'regular' usage by the residents, only specific(flat) areas along the river would make sense. But then, few people both live and work by the river. And if Praguers do cycling (and they do a LOT) they typically do it on weekends and in the direction out the city, not along the river within the city limits (why should stay in the city when its leisure weekend activity and there are so many great cycling areas just outside the city limits).
So that's the 'mystery' of why few cycle lanes in PRG explained

[Nhkg]

Public transport in Prague is more than 30 years old, after the fall of communism only few new tram lines has been built. Most of the metro cars are 40 years old. And still it gets 5/5. :D The number of cars has unfortunately increased many times over the last 30 years.
The lines on pedestrian crossing are for blind people.

[jdillon]

Prague should get an immediate fail on pedestrian mobility for the absolute dumpster fire that is the entrance to the main railway station. There is literally a 6-lane freeway right in front of the train station building. Not only is there no zebra crossing or traffic lights, there are actually fences blocking you from crossing the street even if you wanted to. There is are 2 pedestrian underpasses, but they are not direct routes, and involve stairs or elevators, not ramps. It's the worst access to a city's main train station that I've even seen, anywhere in the world.

[petrfedor]

Lot of cyvling infastructure in Prague is the bare minimun to comply with EU standarts but in function are basicly just waste of paint.

[林智喜]

Taipei Score🤔
Transit 3
Cycling 1
Walking 1
Bike-share 4
Total 9
😰😡😮‍💨🤧🥺😭

[carthtc]

Could you maybe check your facts before releasing the video? 😀
The sign is not "the playstreet" it means "urban zone", where the speed is limited to 20 kmh and the drivers are advised to pay extra attention to pedestrian traffic that might include children. 😂😂
The cycling paths are narrow because there is no space to put them, the city is medieval, made for horses and carriages, not modern traffic.