We live in an era of galloping urbanization, where cities are growing, and its population increase with each passing day.At the same time increasing the number of vehicles on the city streets: cars, trucks, buses and trams.But very often urban roads are not designed for such strong traffic flows.As the city deal with this problem and how the fight against traffic jams?
traffic jams - what is it?
congestion (or congestion) is excessive accumulation of vehicles on certain roads.The participants of traffic are moving at a very slow rate, or not moving at all.
Interestingly, according to current in our country traffic rules, we have no concept of "congestion" or "plug" in the legal field.Indirectly, the jams in question in only one paragraph of the Regulation - 13.2.However, in 2006 the Russian Federation was made to introduce a new road sign (temporary) warning drivers of congestion on the road.
struggle with traffic jams in the world - is one of the global urban challenges.After all, the presence of permanent traffic jams in the city is bad for its functionality can often even paralyze normal life of the city.After all, if we imagine the city as a large organism, its lines of communication and the road can be compared to the arteries of the human body.Therefore, municipalities are the biggest cities in the world pay great attention to this problem by inventing new ways to combat congestion.
Congestion - a bit of history
It's hard to believe, but the problem of road congestion appeared a long time ago.Traffic jams have occurred in the cities in the XVII century, and it was coach-stopper!It was at this time on the streets of the city there are many coaches, with narrow streets that it was difficult to handle.
second wave of traffic congestion in large cities falls on the end of the XIX century, when there was a form of public transport, as the tram.For some time, we managed to solve the problem of traffic jams in the 20-30-ies in connection with the construction of subway systems in major cities.But in the second half of the twentieth century, the problem again makes itself felt to the present day struggle with traffic jams in the world remains an urgent task.
biggest traffic jams in history
history has recorded many examples of major traffic jams.We offer you three of the most famous of them:
- New York, 1969.Tube length 70 (!) Kilometers.Reason: The largest rock festival in the city.
- Chicago, 2011.There was a real collapse of the transport system of the city, traffic continued to 12 hours.Reason: a blizzard.
- Sao Paulo in 2013.It is the most ambitious road congestion in the history, it reached the length of 309 kilometers!
main reason - the human factor
reason for this phenomenon is actually quite a lot.However, the biggest cause of traffic jam is considered to be the human factor.On the road, it is often possible to meet personalities in the style of "I slipped!".As a result - an emergency on a busy highway, congestion and hundreds of drivers with a broken mood.Frivolous and frivolous attitude towards traffic can have very negative consequences.Also, the plug can also be formed as a result of an unexpected failure of the car on the track.This can happen to anyone, anywhere.
however happens and so that the mash is formed on a flat wide road without any reason.That such cases is much more interesting, especially for researchers, urbanists, and the fight against traffic jams in this case is even more complicated.
Causes congestion
reasons of their occurrence can be objective and subjective, permanent or situational.And it is worth noting that the fight against traffic jams - it's not so much a struggle with ourselves congestion as a struggle with their causes.Therefore, this question calls for a thorough study.
Consider the most basic and common reasons:
- violations in the construction of the roadway;
- unregulated availability of complex junctions;
- no pockets at public transportation stops;
- disruptions to traffic;
- availability of parking in not equipped for this field of the road.
It was a constant cause of congestion.By situational (or accidental) reasons include the following:
- blocking traffic to move tuples;
- repair work on the roads;
- weather conditions (storms, snow, rain, etc.);
- gross violations of traffic rules by individual members of the movement;
- emergencies on the road.
Main effects of traffic congestion
consequences of congestion on the roads can be very negative.In particular, it is:
- bandwidth reduction roadway;
- economic damage for the entire city;
- loss of precious time members of the movement;
- increase in emissions in the urban environment;
- increase in fuel consumption;
- noise pollution of the urban environment;
- extra stress for drivers and residents.
Congestion and science
is interesting to note that the fight against traffic congestion worried not only government representatives but also scientists, including mathematicians.They used the method of mathematical modeling to answer the questions: "where are the traffic jams?"and "how to fight them?".
Scientists have found that traffic congestion may occur without apparent reason and assumptions.Therefore, they concluded that the plug can often occur on the streets due to the aggressive behavior of some participants in the movement.
first historical example of a solution to this problem can be considered as an appeal to the Paris city hall famous scientist Blaise Pascal back in 1654.He proposed to optimize the movement of coaches in the French capital.Thorough study of traffic flows has been going on for a hundred years.
fight traffic congestion: the classic ways
to solve this pressing problem scratching their heads hundreds of minds around the world.With serious practical and theoretical studies of mankind has been able to develop the following methods to combat congestion:
- improving interchanges and intersections, as well as construction of new ones;
- establishment of public transport (where the clearest example in the world - the Brazilian city of Curitiba);
- use bands with varying direction of motion;
- correct adjustment of traffic lights;
- expansion of the roadway;
- introduction of fees for entry into certain (problem) areas of the city;
- promote rational behavior on the road;
- underground development, and cycling;
- active use of computer methods and technologies.
struggle with traffic jams in the world: interesting examples
from congestion suffer most big cities: New York, Singapore, Sao Paulo, Chicago, Moscow and other cities.
interesting to try to solve the problem of congestion in Athens.There weekdays on even numbers on the street allowed to leave only those cars whose numbers end in an even number.On odd dates calendar - just the opposite.Thus, each machine can travel to the city in a day.If the police notice in a city car that has broken the rules, then its owner will have to pay a fine of 72 euros.Similar methods are used in Sao Paulo.
And here in Singapore are struggling with traffic quotas.As we know, this city is very much suffers a deficit of space.Therefore, in Singapore the driver should not just buy a car, but also to buy a quota for its use.Quotas are sold at auction, and the average cost of approximately $ 8,000.
But what a struggle with traffic jams in Moscow?At the moment, the whole struggle is reduced mainly to the construction of new intersections and metro stations.Very useful projects to combat congestion has become an Internet resource "Yandex-Stoppers" which offers operational information as traffic flows in the city.
Thus, congestion - is the inevitable consequence of urbanization.Fighting traffic jams in the world is conducted in different ways, and the scientists working on this problem, developing more and more new methods of such struggle.
