diff --git a/README.md b/README.md index fb4dc3c41c..52552b305d 100644 --- a/README.md +++ b/README.md @@ -4,14 +4,66 @@ Ever been on a bus stuck in traffic, wondering why there are cars parked on the road instead of a bus lane? A/B Street is a game exploring how small changes to a city affect the movement of drivers, cyclists, transit users, and pedestrians. -- [Game features](docs/articles/features/article.md) -- [Instructions to run the game](docs/INSTRUCTIONS.md) +[Play A/B Street on Windows, Mac, Linux](docs/INSTRUCTIONS.md) ![demo](docs/articles/features/screenshots/demo.gif) +## Features + +More details [here](docs/articles/features/article.md). + +- The map + - A detailed rendering of Seattle from OpenStreetMap and King County GIS data, + including sidewalks, on-street parking, bike lanes, bus-only lanes, turn + lanes, buildings, and bus stops. + - Intersections governed by stop signs and traffic signals, with default + signal timings heuristically inferred. Hand-tuned geometry to reasonably + model Seattle's strangest intersections. + - You can adjust lane types, stop signs, and traffic signals. +- The traffic + - Individual cars, buses, bikes, and pedestrians move through the map. + - Most trips are multi-modal -- for example, a pedestrian exits a building, + walks a few blocks over to their parked car, drives somewhere, looks for + parking, and walks to their final destination. + - A realistic set of trips -- how many people go from building 1 to building 2 + at some time using some form of transport -- comes from + [PSRC's Soundcast](https://www.psrc.org/activity-based-travel-model-soundcast) + model. +- The gameplay + - Start in sandbox mode, exploring the map, watching traffic patterns, + following individual agents, looking for problems. + - Jump to edit mode, where you can convert some on-street parking to bus lanes + and adjust traffic signals to try to fix some problem. + - Try your change in A/B test mode, running two traffic simulations + side-by-side. Explore how individual agents finish their trips faster or + slower, and compare aggregate results about different groups of traffic. + +## Project mission + +If you fix some traffic problem while playing A/B Street, my ultimate goal is +for your changes to become a real proposal for adjusting Seattle's +infrastructure. A/B Street is of course a game, using a simplified approach to +traffic modeling, so city governments still have to evaluate proposals using +their existing methods. A/B Street is intended as a conversation starter and +tool to communicate ideas with interactive visualizations. + +Why not leave city planning to professionals? People are local experts on the +small slice of the city they interact with daily -- the one left turn lane that +always backs up or a certain set of poorly timed walk signals. +[Laura Adler](http://www.govtech.com/data/SimCities-Can-City-Planning-Mistakes-Be-Avoided-Through-Data-Driven-Simulations.html) +writes: + +> "Only with simple, accessible simulation programs can citizens become active +> generators of their own urban visions, not just passive recipients of options +> laid out by government officials." + +Existing urban planning software is either proprietary or hard to use. A/B +Street strives set the accessible bar high, by being a fun, engaging game. + ## Contributing -If you're skilled in user experience design, traffic simulation, data -visualization, or government outreach, please contact Dustin Carlino at +I'm a one-person team. If you want to bring this to your city or if you're +skilled in user experience design, traffic simulation, data visualization, or +civic/government outreach, please contact Dustin Carlino at . I also welcome any contributions on [Patreon](https://www.patreon.com/abstreet). diff --git a/docs/INSTRUCTIONS.md b/docs/INSTRUCTIONS.md index 00047440fd..929e19b498 100644 --- a/docs/INSTRUCTIONS.md +++ b/docs/INSTRUCTIONS.md @@ -69,4 +69,5 @@ A/B Street binary releases contain pre-built maps that combine data from: - https://github.com/seattleio/seattle-boundaries-data (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) - DejaVuSans.ttf (https://dejavu-fonts.github.io/License.html) -- Puget Sound Regional Council (https://www.psrc.org/activity-based-travel-model-soundcast) +- Puget Sound Regional Council + (https://www.psrc.org/activity-based-travel-model-soundcast)