Reducing Traffic Congestion and Pollution in Urban Areas

It is often incorrectly suggested that congestion may be solved with one big idea, such as:

• Widen roads
• Narrow roads
• Add bus lanes
• Remove bus lanes
• Build tunnels
• Etc

None of these can deliver a complete solution, and most of them provide only temporary relief.

Road pricing (which we cover later) is the nearest to a one-hit solution.

Urban Traffic Management Control (UTMC) systems can be very effective in maximising road capacity by varying the timing of traffic lights to match demand in real time. When lights are all co-ordinated responsively to demand, incidences of ‘blocking back’ (vehicles stuck in junctions) leading to gridlock can be minimised. Traffic planners can also prepare and model programs to cope with specific scenarios (such as an incident on an arterial road), which can then be loaded into the UTMC immediately they’re needed.

Use of CCTV at junctions allows traffic managers to see breakdowns, collisions and other causes of congestion. Combined with good communication systems with Highways England, the police and major road users (such as airports, train stations, retail parks), this can ensure traffic managers receive advance warning of issues that will impact their network.

Illegal parking, waiting, loading/unloading obstructs traffic flow, reduces capacity at junctions, holds up buses, and increases danger to those walking or cycling. Blocking junctions, which is illegal where there’s a yellow box, can cause gridlock across a wide area of the road network.

• Pollution from diesel engines
• electric buses, with quiet, battery-powered motors
• Tickets are typically purchased before boarding a tram
• Trams typically have multi-door boarding.
• Tram routes are easier to understand and find.
• The ride quality is smoother on trams
• The ride quality of a bus is largely determined by the quality of the road:
• The challenge is for bus manufacturers to up their game!
• Bus windows often stream with condensation in the winter.

This can be addressed by running buses through a washer during off-peak periods.

Free parking at employment sites attracts traffic and therefore contributes indirectly to congestion. Nottingham has led the way in introducing a workplace parking levy (WPL). The effect on congestion is relatively small, but significant. More importantly it incentivises employers to help their employees find alternative ways to get to work.

“Build it and they will come” is as true of cycle paths as of roads – as long as they provide a continuous connection between places that people want to travel between, without dangerous junctions or road crossings.

The answer, at least at peak times, is to run express services that follow a direct route with widely-spaced stops, more like a train service. Those stops would include the travel hubs discussed.

Park-and-ride (P&R) is now an accepted traffic management tool.

The model needs refining, in part by catering differently to local and longer-distance traffic.

The cost of building and maintaining P&R sites are substantial and should be borne by users rather than local taxpayers. Public money should be used to subsidise public transport, which is available to everyone, rather than parking, which is available only to those who are able to drive and can afford a car.

There is no doubt that road pricing can work: in Singapore, for instance, a network of ‘gates’ that charge a toll that varies in relation to demand successfully keeps a lid on congestion. But there is a complex debate to be had around designing and implementing road pricing: the social, political and technical challenges are huge and will take years to resolve. That process needs to start now.

There needs to be much greater consideration given to the health aspects of transport. Reducing obesity and improving mental health requires for most people requires building more physical activity into their daily routines. That means walking and cycling must be attractive, convenient and safe for many more people.

Planting trees between highways and homes has been shown to reduce the amount of pollution people are exposed to in their homes. It is also linked with greater willingness to walk and improved mental health.