PEAK-PERIOD TRAFFIC CONGESTION: A STATE-OF-THE-ART ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION OF EFFECTIVE SOLUTIONS

Peak-period traffic congestion has two basic alternative solutions: changing demand to meet system capability or changing system capacity to meet demand. The demand for road system capacity may be changed by reducing the vehicle number needed by increasing vehicle occupancy, reorienting travel to off-peak periods or to less congested routes, or reducing demand for travel. System capacity can be changed by building additional roadways or by increasing road capacity by improving traffic flow. Twenty-two techniques with the apparent potential to reduce or redistribute demand are listed. Four major categories of approach are involved: social approaches, socioeconomic approaches, socio-technical approaches, and technical approaches. Two major social approaches are staggered and flexible work hours, which attempts to spread peak-period commuter trips over a longer interval, and shortened work weeks, which tries to direct home-to-work trips to off-peak times and to cut the total number of such trips. Socioeconomic approaches consist of five groups of possible solutions. Pricing and regulatory mechanisms might be helpful in reducing peak-period use of crowded transportation facilities, but their immediate implementation does not seem feasible. Serious problems exist in the selection of appropriate schedules of charges and administration, operation, and enforcement of a working system. Public acceptance of variable road pricing is not likely. Parking controls may be effective in reducing traffic and counteracting the effects of congestion. Two ways of restricting access are traffic cells, in which through travel by automobiles is eliminated, and auto-free zones, where all private vehicles are prohibited and pedestrian travel is promoted. Land use planning includes such approaches as new towns, planned communities, planned neighborhoods, and zoning and building codes. Marketing techniques in general provide incentives for using high-occupancy vehicles. Carpooling and other ridesharing approaches are another socioeconomic approach. Socio-technical approaches include the use of communications in place of travel. Technical approaches use technical advances and technological innovations to modify travel behavior at the immediate source of congestion. They include traffic engineering techniques, transit operations, and vehicle design factors. Analysis of various approaches is done, and packages of techniques are evaluated for their compatibility. Modifying urban land uses is apparently the best long-range solution to peak-period traffic congestion.

  • Supplemental Notes:
    • Published in Urban Transportation Perspectives and Prospects.
  • Corporate Authors:

    Newcastle University, Australia

    Department of Community Programmes
    Newcastle, New South Wales 2308,   Australia 

    Eno Transportation Foundation

    P.O. Box 2055, Saugatuck Station
    Westport, CT  United States  06880-0055
  • Authors:
    • Rosenbloom, S
  • Publication Date: 1982

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Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 00399704
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Report/Paper Numbers: HS-037 987
  • Files: TRIS
  • Created Date: Oct 31 1985 12:00AM