Road Congestion Report Samples

Road Congestion

Road congestion has become a serious problem across the world, and it is estimated that billions of pounds are lost every year in the form of these congestions. The congestions are particularly notorious in developed countries with the UK being among the leading nations in Europe when it comes to road congestion. This problem can be attributed to an imbalance between the demand for motor vehicles and the space available in terms of roads (Arnott & Small, 1994). People are buying vehicles on a daily basis, and the number of vehicles on the roads are therefore increasing. Unfortunately, this increase has not been translated into an increase in the amount of space that is available in terms of roads, and the number of roads remains the same thus leading to humongous traffic congestions in busy cities like London. The congestion becomes even worse during rush hours and individuals can spend up two hours on a road stretch that under normal circumstances would not exceed 15 minutes. Clearly, a solution needs to be found.
It has been found that one of the leading causes to the huge traffic jams in cities like London is the search for a parking spot. It has emerged that people waste a lot of hours just moving around looking for an appropriate parking spot leading to the proliferation of the huge traffic jams.
One of the solutions to this is the computerization of all car parks in major cities like London and the creation of a network or system where drivers can check on the availability of a parking spot. This system can for example collect, store and disseminate information on the car parks, for example, information about the presence of a certain car and its duration in the park (Black, 2010). This real-time data and information when relayed to a wide variety of drivers can help then make appropriate decisions that can in one or another help to reduce congestion in the cities.
The other solution is to ban cars from the central business districts of cities. In fact, cities such as London need to take measures to curb the number of vehicles on the roads inside the city. As mentioned earlier, one of the factors contributing to the humongous congestion is the increase in the number of cars on the roads without a proportionate increase in the number of road space. This problem can be partly mitigated by therefore reducing the number of cars on the roads in sections of the cities where the road space is limited. This means that people should be forced to use public transport as much as possible in order to reduce the number of cars on the roads (Anas and Lindsey, 2011). This will be of enormous economic benefit. Not only will it save millions of pounds lost due to traffic congestion but it will also see humongous savings in terms of fuel.
The other solution which is of course quite expensive is the construction of new roads. Roads do not have to be constructed on the ground as new technology enables roads to be constructed even above the ground and on top of each other meaning that no new foundations are needed (Santos, 2004). Building of new roads would increase overall road space and if this increase of road space is propionate to the increase in the number of cars or vehicles being witnessed in a city such as London, then traffic congestions might be a thing of the past.
However, the most recommendable economic strategy in solving this problem is adoption of transport technologies referred to Intelligent Transportation System (Sunmonu, 2011). These are tools that have been gaining a lot of popularity due to their massive potential to eliminate the problem of road congestion once and for all. They consist of an array of several technological tools for both non-motored as well as non-motored transport systems. When used in combination with various administrative and economic policies, they have the potential to completely eradicate the problem of congestion and the economic consequences that it has (Sunmonu, 2011)
In fact, proper road management combination with the proper technological tools can play a very crucial role in curbing road congestion not only in Europe and in big cities like London but across the world.
This can be done for instance by promoting the use of alternative means and modes of transport such walking, bicycling, carpooling and public transport as mentioned earlier (Hall & Pfeiffer, 2013).
It can also be done by improving traffic flow. Sometimes, jams may even occur where there are not many cars on the roads. The flow of cars may be so irregular whereby cars block and overlap leading to huge traffic congestions. Therefore, if traffic flow could be improved, perhaps the entire situation would get better (Sunmonu, 2011). Once again, technology can greatly assist in regards to this aspect. Some of the tools that can be availed by the ITS technology and that are greatly viable include, traffic signals and signs and route guidance systems (Hall & Pfeiffer, 2013).
In conclusion, the problem of road congestion in Europe and across the world is likely to persist if solutions such as the ones proposed above are not implemented. Road congestions are already causing national and global economies millions of pound very year. This is clearly affecting the global economy in a bad way, and the problem of road congestion must, therefore, be tackled immediately.

References

Arnott, R., & Small, K., 1994. The economics of traffic congestion. American Scientist, pp. 446-455.
Santos, G. 2004. Urban congestion charging: a second-best alternative. Journal of Transport Economics and Policy, pp. 345-369.
Anas, A., & Lindsey, R. 2011. Reducing urban road transportation externalities: Road pricing in theory and in practice. Review of Environmental Economics and Policy.
Hall, P., & Pfeiffer, U. 2013. Urban future 21: a global agenda for twenty-first century cities, Routledge.
Black, W. R 2010. Sustainable transportation: problems and solutions, Guilford Press.
Sunmonu, O. F 2011. Intelligent Transportation System, In 10 th Research Seminar Series Workshop.