SWOMM » traffic congestion

The Fundamental Law of Road Congestion

SaraM — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 10:32:38 +0000

For many years, roads and special lanes have arisen in urban areas of the United States with the aim of reducing traffic congestions. Nevertheless, the continuous enlargement of the road network, rather than being a solution, is proven to be a contribution to the traffic increase, a recent study by University of Toronto says.

The economist Matthew Turner said that the percentage of traffic grows at the same rate of the marginal increase of roads in the cities. Regarding public transportation, the study also points out that if more and more citizens employ bus or train this will not impact on the traffic trend. Indeed, the increase is registered in the number of passengers rather than in the number of drivers.

The one-to-one relation existing between roads and vehicle miles driven here above mentioned is named by the authors “the fundamental law of road congestion”. According to this law, widening the road network would not reduce traffic congestion, nor would it be done by a further increase in the use of public means, which is not impacting on the figure of vehicles per kilometers travelled (vkt). Therefore, they conclude, congestion pricing is the only effective tool to curb traffic problems.

The Fundamental Law of Road Congestion (percolatorblog.org)
America’s future: More roads, more congestion (jimsbikeblog.wordpress.com)
Study: Building Roads to Cure Congestion Is an Exercise in Futility (dc.streetsblog.org)
Building More Roads Only Causes More Traffic (fastcompany.com)
Does Building More Roads Cure or Cause More Congestion? (pollutionfree.wordpress.com)

European towns to go on foot

EleonoraC — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 12:27:10 +0000

Many European cities are creating car-unfriendly environments, for instance by increasing the costs for driving. Another way to tilt the drivers towards more environmental-friendly transport means is that of hampering them to park. In fact, while there is always room for new shopping malls and apartment buildings in cities like Vienna, Barcelona and London, the number of parking spaces are being restricted, and the on-street parking is vanishing.

In the last few years, even former car capitals like Munich have evolved into “walkers’ paradises”. Pedestrians and trams are given priority treatment in Zurich: red lights have been added in close proximity on roads into town, and pedestrian underpasses have been removed. Operators in the city’s ever expanding tram system can turn traffic lights in their favor as they approach, forcing cars to halt.

Europe’s cities generally have stronger incentives to act: public transportation is better in Europe than in the United States, and gas often costs more, over 8 dollars a gallon. What’s more, the need for a cut in the emissions from transport is being seriously taken into consideration.

However, it is not easy to get people out of their cars. While the first step is that of providing efficient public transport, the strategy, which is proving to pay off, is that of making harder and more costly to park.

Related articles

Across Europe, Irking Drivers Is Urban Policy (empressoftheglobaluniverse.wordpress.com)

A move back to cycling (and other alternatives) in cities (surfabike.wordpress.com)

Reclaiming Our Cities: Just Say No To Cars (underpaidgenius.com)

Europe Stifles Drivers in Favor of Mass Transit and Walking – NYTimes.com (mbcalyn.wordpress.com)

China plans to build sustainable bus overriding cars to fight traffic and pollution

FedericoM — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 08:09:30 +0000

Traffic and pollution are becoming some of the major problems in China’s ever-expanding economy. With more than 60 million cars crossing the streets, the biggest automotive market in the world needed the traditional Chinese intuition for inventions to face the multiple factors connected with sustainable urban mobility.

The answer came with the “3D Coach Express”, a revolutionary concept bus which is set to crisscross Chinese cities without engulfing the streets at all, simply because it rides over them. Designed by the Shenzen Huashi Future Parking Equipment and presented in the 13th International Beijing high-tech fair – Chitech -, this enormous suspended bus exploits the space between regular-sized cars (high less than 2 metres) and bridges thus saving construction costs for new infrastructures as well as minimizing congestion impact by allowing vehicles to drive underneath its upper level.

The bus – which is 5 metres in height and 6 metres in width – is expected to travel up to 60 km\h and it will be completely powered by a combination of electric and solar energy, thus embracing China’s “green” commitment. The ultra-modern bus will carry about 1200-1400 passengers on its upper level, allowing its designer to forecast a 20-30% reduction in road congestion.

The construction of the first 185 kilometres track of the 3D Coach Express is set to start in the end of 2010 in the Beijing’s Mentougou district, with an estimated cost of 500 million Yuan (round 58 million Euro) for a 40 kilometres track, far less than any subway.

How far this technology can be easily transferred to Alpine cities’ context is hard to clear out, but it would be undoubtedly premature to underestimate the breakthrough that a successful application of 3D Coach Express could mean for the future of sustainable transports.

Related articles

motori.corriere.it/

engadget.com/

huffingtonpost.com/

chinahush.com/

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Future of Travel? China’s ‘Elevated High-Speed Bus’ (abcnews.go.com)

China’s 3D Express Coach Buses Will Be Able to Drive Over Other Cars [China] (gizmodo.com)

China plans huge bus that allows traffic to drive underneath (konterkariert.tumblr.com)

China’s ‘3D Fast Bus’ Straddles the Road So Cars Can Drive Under (treehugger.com)

China’s ‘3D Fast Bus’ Straddles the Road So Cars Can Drive Under (treehugger.com)

How to find a parking spot

ChiaradC — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 16:01:05 +0000

“Driving in New York City is analogous only to playing a speed-racer video game. You’re constantly trying to avoid any number of obstacles: 12 million potential jaywalkers, 10,000 erratic cab drivers, 6,000 buses, bicycles, livery cabs, rats. Then, when you finally arrive at your destination, there’s the Whack-a-Mole experience of trying to find a parking spot” writes Nick Bilton on New York Times.

Parking is a hot topic! And drivers have to deal with it.

Though an application helps drivers in New York and Boston finding a place to leave the car: that’s PrimoSpot wich has developed a database collecting pictures of thousands of parking signs. All the information is visible on an interactive map and the application delivers information on parking places, locations and even bike racks. PrimoSpot allows users to update information and the company is also planning to implement push reminders for users when parking time is about to expire.

Bryan Choi, sick of driving around his northern Manhattan neighborhood, Inwood, for finding a place to park his car has developed the iPhone Spotswitch application.

Spotswitch is a help network for parking. With its iPhone App and integrated website it locates fellow members leaving their parking spots. It will soon be available for other devices as well.

ParkingAroundMe is a free service that lets fellow drivers tell each other about available street parking through text messaging or Twitter. It started in Park Slope Brooklyn (focused on the area around New York Methodist Hospital) and plans to cover the rest of NYC very soon.

Parking is a problem for institutions as well as drivers. Congestion is oftend caused by parking inefficiencies. A study released in June by Transportation Alternatives, a public transit advocacy group, reported that 28 percent to 45 percent of traffic on some streets in New York City is generated by people circling the blocks (via New York Times). Solving the problem could have positive effects on transportation and the economy and environment.

Last fall in San Francisco 6.000 parking places where glued with a plastic wireless sensor. Drivers are alerted on empty parking places and can also pay for parking by cellphones.

Have you heard of any other interesting solution?

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Cyclists ‘to ride nude in the snow to protest NY bike lane removal’ (telegraph.co.uk)

Compressed air cars: reality or chimera?

FrancescoG — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 15:15:25 +0000

The research of alternative “environmental friendly” systems for sustainable mobility in urban areas has produced captivating and innovative technological solutions. Which among these are a real opportunity and which ones are just a chimera?

The compressed air car, for instance, appeared several years ago and has been presented as a possible revolution in personal mobility but, as of yet, it has not turned out into reality and, on the contrary, many doubts persist on some technical aspects and on its energy efficiency.

Recently, a study published on the last number of the “Environmental Research Letters” states that the compressed air car beside having an extremely low energy efficiency, requires electric power to compress air and, therefore, its carbon footprint appears to be bigger than conventional fossil fuel cars.

However, last year the MDI, company that produces compressed air cars, introduced the concept named AirPod, whose production license has been purchased by the Indian giant Tata Motors and has announced its launch on the market by 2009.

Will we see soon a small “bubble” emitting air from its exhaust pipe or will there be another delay? Reality or chimera? What do you think?

Other articles you might enjoy!

News on AirPod
Compressed air cars

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People Power Announces “Unplug for Earth Day 2010″ Campaign on Facebook (prweb.com)

Turning gas-guzzling properties into models of energy efficiency (guardian.co.uk)

Infomobility: which advantages for Alpine tourism?

AndreaB — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:35:55 +0000

How do tourists shift in the European Alps? Where do they come from and where do they go spending their leisure time? Knowledge on facts and datasets describing travellers’ behaviour is still scarce. However a strong political will exists to analyse this phenomenon and to establish a link between the Alpine transport system and the tourist supply. Under a technological point of view, specific facilities and software are needed to involve the numerous subjects participating in the Alpine tourist system. Infomobility is the word that technicians use to refer to the wide set of instruments aiming at improving local information services on traffic, public transport services, faster routes, etc. And which may serve also in the tourist sector.

In Italy an interesting case in the Alpine area is represented by the “Intelligence Control System” project, launched by Regione Piemonte in cooperation with scientific and technical partners. It aims at providing an all-inclusive service to travellers: for instance travellers’ vehicles are used to collect data which are processed in a later stage (e.g. traffic flow is calculated in relation with weather conditions). The resulting “Infomobility system” is easy to access for citizens, and should allow them to get useful information and plan their journeys in advance, limiting trip time, traffic congestion and noxious emissions. Some interesting projects already exist on that territory and were developed by skilled professionals.

Experts from all the Alpine countries are discussing on these topics in the frame of the Alpine Convention Working Group on Transport.

Some questions are still open, and might be asked to the conference’s participants: are European tourists ready to use public transport to visit mountain destinations? Are well built Infomobility systems likely to produce behavioural change in people using their own car to reach Alpine destinations? How much would an extensive use of ICT in the mobility sector cost to local governments? Do the expected advantages counterbalance the required public expenditure?

Other articles you might be interested in!

Infomobility @ Comune di Biella (Italy)

Radio Traffic: live maps from the Regione Piemonte web site

Infomobility @ the Italian Innovation Forum 2009

Car pooling

LucaC — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:11:03 +0000

Car pooling is considered a viable tool to reduce traffic congestion by allowing more people to use a single vehicle for moving along the same track. However, especially in some countries as Italy, this practice has not yet crept in, despite some praiseworthy initiatives (e.g. the reduced fare for cars with more than 2 passengers on A8-A9 highways in Lombardia).

The most remarkable barriers to a wide use of car pooling are psychological, and the possibility to travel with known people could make car pooling more attractive, reports Marco Di Mitri in his blogpost. A possible solution could be travelling with colleagues.

Several platforms are available to ease car pooling (such as roadsharing.com and pendolaritalia.it in Italy, and NuRide in the US), but some of them deserve a special attention.

One of my favorite platform to be used in a working environment is Caringbee . Each user can register, declare her track with starting point, time and arrival and share this information with her colleagues. The platform has been developed according to the web 2.0 principles and can be embedded in a business intranet.

Car pooling seems to be a viable practice also for people who live in the mountains and often commute to larger centres for work, business, public services and leisure. A large number of private cars can remarkably contribute to produce well known externalities of traffic congestion and pollution in urban centres. The experts who are going to meet at SWOMM 2009 will certainly share their impressions concerning the concrete role which car pooling might play in mountain towns.

Other websites you might find interesting:
Car Pooling Italia
Tandem Mobility
Car pooling//Autostrade Italia
Car Pooling Liguria

Could congestion be a good thing?

FrancescoG — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:21:00 +0000

During the SWOMM 2009 conference, mobility and urban planning will be addressed with the participation of experts of the field. Reflections coming from this NewZealand blog -Auckland Transport Blog – regarding the “positive” aspects of traffic congestion in rush hours may well be an interesting starting point for a discussion.

In fact, if on one hand traffic congestion increases air pollution, drivers mental stress and the duration of journeys, on the other hand it fosters for the same reasons the use of public transport on reserved lanes.

“ If we had a complete absence of congestion at all times it would surely be a sign of huge over-investment in the roading network (if it was even possible, remembering the effects of induced demand)… Slower traffic encourages alternatives means of transport that are often more sustainable, it encourages shorter trips and thereby encourages higher development densities and more mixed-use development. ….In the end, I think it’s stupid, and probably even counter-productive, to attempt to eliminate congestion. Instead, perhaps it’s more prudent to plan for an optimum level of congestion – keeping in mind other environmental, economic and social goals.”

This is surely an original point of view. However the question is still valid: is it useful to plan mobility in a certain area aiming at eradicating completely traffic congestions or do we need to plan instead also the optimal level of traffic congestion?