Question

Many larger cities are known for high traffic and congestion. Based on what you learned in this chapter what are some ways a city can reduce the demand for traffic?

Answer 1

Answer -

Traffic in the city and pollution is a problem that is only getting worse. Also with the presence of public transit systems, the need for cars persists and, in many situations, the infrastructure of a city simply can not keep up with the number of cars. You know the annoyance of city traffic and congestion if you've ever tried to drive through a town during rush hour.

How do we address this problem? It will take some major changes, but it became clear from our recent pitches at SXSW in Austin and at the competition at the Urban Future Lab in New York that many are working to improve congestion and traffic ... Let's take a look:

Travel Sharing Applications and Ride Hailing
With ride sharing and ride hailing services, the promise to help ease congestion and traffic in cities arrived. Although ride sharing apps such as Uber and Lyft provide an alternative option of transportation for city-goers, they also add cars to the route. In New York City alone, an estimated 100,000 vehicles have been introduced to the roads by these new services, as people often use them INSTEAD of public transport.

Companies such as Gridwise (a fellow Techstar mobility company) are developing platforms that allow rideshare drivers to manage their business better and reduce passenger waiting (and circling) times. Our fellow SXSW accelerator group, Commutifi, optimises mobility for commuters, businesses and business districts. While calculating time , expense and carbon efficiencies, the organisation collects holistic commuting data and produces recommendations.

1. Introducing Adaptive Traffic Management -
You know how impractical traffic signals can always be if you have ever sat watching the light turn green in traffic, then red, then green, then red without ever being able to move because of gridlock. Traffic signals, especially those not properly adjusted to traffic conditions, contribute to city congestion. Traffic signals may cause and intensify gridlock, however with the advent of adaptive traffic signals, the situation can be enhanced.

Adaptive traffic signals may be tailored to a given intersection's congestion. For a more efficient result, their patterns and the length of each signal should be modified, so gridlock is not such a hassle and more vehicles are able to traverse the intersection with a limited wait time.

2. Drones to Rescue the Rescue?

Could the use of drones to transport goods inside cities help to alleviate congestion in traffic? Potentially. There may be some advantages of turning of drones for deliveries, according to a study carried out by the RAND Corporation. The study notes that to reach a volume comparable to city traffic, it would take 100 drones, making for a quieter delivery choice. And it's possible that we'll test drone delivery with companies like Amazon, the United Parcel Service, DHL, and even Google testing drone delivery. He included the idea in his 30-year transport plan for Auckland. But likely not an immediate fit.

3. Carpooling Service
Perhaps one of the easiest solutions is also the most efficient way to alleviate city traffic congestion: Carpool! Carpooling, which aims to minimise traffic problems, decreases the number of cars on the route. It also has the advantages on city streets of reducing pollution and wear and tear. Many urban areas encourage multi-passenger vehicles to use high-occupancy vehicle lanes, which are usually less congested, increasing the fuel economy further.

Setting up carpools for children is fast, thanks to GoKid. GoKid enables you to arrange carpools with other parents quickly, so you can all share the driving and bring children to and from sporting events, after-school programs, and even summer camps. Carpooling would not only make your life simpler, it will save you thousands of hours, but it will also help minimise traffic.

4. Thinking the future
Would the solution to traffic congestion in towns be these options? Are other solutions going to emerge? We need to solve the growing issue of traffic in order to keep cities working. We are hopeful and encouraged to see state-wide initiatives by organisations such as NYSERDA and millennials that adapt bikesharing and carpooling to their everyday transportation mix to minimise traffic. In the years to come, it will be fascinating to see which approaches cities use.