Die Infrastruktur

While I've never been hit by a car/bus/train/helicopter/Superman/etc. wenn ich fahre mit mein Rad, the hazards are always close and ich muss vorsichtig sein. Germany truly does have an astonishing quantity of bicycles which it handles expertly and I often wish that was the case here. Leider denke ich, in der USA sind wir victims of urban sprawl, whereas Europe has been packed close together for a long time and can by now (at least in some cases) use the space efficiently.

According to the internet, die Radwege in Berlin are painted red:

Color me jealous of the brickwork. The US notoriously spends very little on maintaining its public infrastructure and has been rated a D multiple times by professional civil engineering societies. That said, the FY2012 USDOT proposed budget includes a 48% increase on highway funding alone, to $336 billion (Whoo! Ein Job für mich, bitte!). The German version of our US Department of Transportation (USDOT) is called - wait for it - das Bundesministerium für Verkehr, Bau und Stadtentwicklung (BMVBS). Das bedeutet the Federal Ministry of Traffic, Building and City Development. If I'm doing my EXTREMELY rough math correctly, Germany actually spends less per capita on infrastructure than the US does, although it would be prudent to remember a) the US has 25 times the geographic land area, and b) my numbers are highly suspect. So perhaps Germany uses its money more efficiently, whatever that means. In any case, the difference is easily visible.

Clear communication in various forms - fonts, web accessibility, teaching, and road signage - has always fascinated me. Urban planning is probably complex enough, but upgrading existing infrastructure must be an absolute nightmare, and the Germans have kept their roads impressively accessible to pedestrians. Arguably this is achieved through some sacrifice of convenience für die Autos, aber the strict Deutsche attitude toward der rote Mann an die Verkehrszeichen may balance some of that. Wer gehen die Straßen, die Straßen gehen, und wer gehen die Fußgängerzone, die Fußgängerzone gehen. Ordnung. Sehr Deutsch.

I am not (always) a control freak, but a lot about Deutsch Stadt layouts appeals to me. Sometimes the most logisch to do is... well, use logic.