Karolína Klímová: The Prague sidewalks bear a historical debt

At the same time as the calls began, the city launched new functions for pedestrians in the Bike via Prague application. This can now be used both for planning interesting walking routes and for tracking miles. “We are now working intensively on the interconnection so that the recorded routes from the By Bike through Prague application can be very easily sent to the call system of ten thousand procedures. They also use motion data from the application when planning new infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists, “explained Karolína Klímová.

In your experience, what is the maximum distance at which there is still a popular or at least accepted variant of pedestrian transport?

There are surveys that have examined this. Among other things, surveys of traffic behavior, which Prague conducts regularly every few years. They relate quite well to the connection between the length of the journey and the mode of transport used. Of course, roads up to one kilometer have a high share of pedestrian traffic. And if I’m not mistaken, within two long years, people are still seriously considering walking. Two kilometers respond for about half an hour during normal walking of an ordinary urban person.

But the attractiveness or safety of a particular route probably plays a role in these considerations, right?

Of course. There are really many aspects that influence the choice of routes or transport module. It is a parterre, the presence of greenery, the load on a given car traffic or, for example, barrier-free accessibility. Many people who have time to walk, typically seniors or mothers with prams, but at the same time have higher demands on the barrier-free use of communication. Below this I can imagine the smoothness of the surface, the presence or absence of different degrees of height, the longitudinal slope, etc.

How is Prague doing in terms of barriers and inequalities on pedestrian routes?

I don’t think comparing cities makes much sense in this regard. We can talk about barrier-free permeability, which is defined by law. It determines the width of the road, the slope, the width of the profile. Nevertheless, a large part of Prague is a monument reserve, which is characterized by irregular and rough surfaces. And our colleagues from the monument care are very much based on them. They consider it the “flagship” of the beauty and admiration of this city. However, from the point of view of pedestrian movement, it is very uncomfortable. The center of Prague is full of large cobblestones even where pedestrians normally move. We use this rather sensitive many very sensitive routes to use. The wheelchair user simply won’t pass the dice in the Old Town. But we can hardly do anything about it. We do not pave Prague.

Barrier-free accessibility at curbs

But does the municipality perceive a deficit in the quality of sidewalks?

In general, Prague has a relatively good network. Especially in the central continuous development. Sidewalks have different parameters. The wider ones are, of course, more pleasant for pedestrians. But the network is de facto continuous. Another issue, however, is how secure road crossings are, especially at intersections. Again, we are at the accessibility, specifically at the lower curbs. In this respect, there are huge old debts that are still being repaired. Curbs need to be reduced mainly for sidewalks built before the entry into force of the current legislation on accessibility, ie approximately before 2010. This is continuously happening up to the amount of personnel and financial possibilities of the metropolis. Something is still being built and the city gives tens of millions of crowns a year to reduce curbs. These are mostly modifications carried out as part of the overall reconstruction of the road.

How are the outskirts of the capital?

This is a problem that is quite close to my heart. I live alone on the outskirts of Prague and I see that the connection between the suburbs and also with the surroundings outside the city limits is often pathetic. Very often there is no possibility for a pedestrian to travel safely from one part of the city to another. Imagine, for example, such a classic road between Kolodějice and Průhonice. There is simply a sidewalk missing and people have no choice but to get in the car or bus. This is another large debt that needs to be gradually remedied. Sometimes I hear sighs as to why so much money is being invested in the construction of bike paths. In reality, however, all these roads are intended for both cyclists and pedestrians. This is their mode of transport. Investments in this infrastructure largely solve the problem of the lack of a secure connection of isolated city districts in the regions of Prague.

The city is trying to promote all possible alternatives to individual car transport. At the same time, we are seeing a boom in resources such as electric scooters, monocycles, etc. To record on these machines as a competition for walking?

Not. I perceive that it is necessary to involve the maximum of alternative means of using cars in transport in the city. I have a driver’s license myself. I used to use a car more, now I use it less. Today, there are almost the same number of registered cars in Prague as people. That means cars can’t fit here. Neither when they stand nor when they go. To this must be added more than a thousand people who commute to Prague every day for work. In addition to walking, which is universal and healthy, many people meet and respond to their needs with other means of micromobility. In many cases, walking is not enough. For example, I ride a lot of bicycles because I take things to work, small purchases, etc. Of course, a person who works a lot is often unable to examine two hours a day to move among his clients to visit. On such an electric scooter, he arrives at the meeting unspoken and, moreover, without getting stuck in rush hour traffic.

Do you also resolve conflicts between pedestrians and cyclists or other ways of “carts”?

I would again divide the answer into two separate topics. The first team are trails for pedestrians and cyclists. Such a backbone path along the Vltava is congested. Its capacity is not enough for the traffic it faces. When this trail was built, no one could have foreseen that so many people would want to use it. That is why we are looking for other routes, such as moving fast cyclists to the roads, which frees up space on separate paths for the slower ones and pedestrians. Otherwise, we have also reported collisions of pedestrians with cyclists. There are not many such incidents. In Prague, for example, two a year. However, many situations bring a frustration, a sense of danger or anger on the part of most pedestrians towards cyclists.

In other words, we talk about the behavior of individual users of communication.

Yes. This also applies to sidewalks. Today, they are used by a number of modes of transport that do not belong there at all. Firstly, there are parked cars that often necessarily pedestrians get off the road. But it also applies to cyclists and scooters. From childhood, we probably have a fixed feeling that the scooter is a toy and therefore belongs on the sidewalk. But before the law, the scooter is a bicycle and belongs to the road. I still believe that there is a way to get these different users into a common space. However, they must learn to behave there. We try to make lighting in that direction, but it’s quite a demanding job.

Application

You mentioned cars parked on the sidewalk. How can Praguer best inform the municipality about the newly created all sorts of barriers on pedestrian roads?

I would recommend Zmente.to. Through it, people report difficulties of various kinds. Among other things, temporary occupations. The city, led by the Technical Administration of Communications (TSK), is trying to work on a system for communicating current information to the public. However, it is relatively difficult, because it requires the cooperation of TSK and twenty-two special building authorities, or even road administration authorities. There is a very fragmented communication management in Prague and therefore this communication is relatively complicated. A city that works relatively intensively to make the situation clear to the citizen. To find what he needs. And that the information circulates sufficiently within the public administration. Otherwise, if an occupation occurs, it must include securing a detour route. This is a concern for road administrations. Occupation may slightly prolong the journey, but it should not make it impossible.

Your office has issued a map of Prague for pedestrians. What do you think is unique for the experience of walking around Prague? What do we not get if we do not choose the slowest means of transport?

You probably won’t notice the bird, for example. When you ride a bike, you are a driver and you have to pay attention to a lot of things. Precisely because you are in a way much stronger than a pedestrian, you have to focus much more on driving. You can’t stop wherever you want. You can’t look back on that bird. I think walking provides a much greater experience for the present moment. Whether it’s the weather conditions, the people passing by or the perception of shops and services along the route. Walking gives you even more time for yourself.

What advice would you give to parents who want to send their children to school in Prague, but are also a little worried?

Here I would make a small advertisement for a documentary called The Good Journeys to School. It contains principles of how a child should behave on the streets and parents’ advice on how their children can get to know going to school independently and safely. In addition, the surroundings of individual schools are mapped with recommendations for hiking and cycling routes. And usually there are also photographed places that can be considered potentially risky. They are described and it is stated how to overcome them safely. It is material intended for children and parents so that they know how far they should go together and where it is possible to release the child. We encourage all schools to consider creating such a document. It is a de facto offer of an alternative to bringing children to the front of the school entrance.

Karolina Klimova
She was born in 1975 in Prague. She studied landscape ecology at the Faculty of Science, Charles University. She worked at the Nature Conservation Agency. In Prague 20, where she lives, she co-founded an educational eco-center for children named Mumraj. Since 2016, she has been a clerk at the Municipal Department of Transport for the development of pedestrian transport and the removal of barriers in public space. She is married and has three children.