CongestionThe state of being overcrowded, clogged, overloaded with traffic or people

Causes ● Increased car ownership from a rapidly growing population and wealth

● Large trucks/vehicles on the road, carrying cargo or raw materials to meet demands

● Poor road designs that naturally leads to congestion, e.g. narrowing roads

● Lack of (accessible) transport options

● Network overload - demand > capacity

o Lack of space

o Suburbanisation, increase of satellite settlements & commuter towns

Causes ● Disturbances leading to “traffic waves”:

o construction o double-parking (lack of government control)o accidents (weather conditions, drunk driving...)

Effects

HIC Case StudySingapore

The Situation - 1970s● Rapid industrialisation

● Emerging as a strong economic market in Asia

● Congestion was severe in (and nearby) CBD

● Air pollution was increasing - WHO urged Singapore to take preventive measures

● Deteriorating quality of life in city centre

● Increasing population - population increase of 16% from 1970-80

SolutionsUrban Planning

● Connecting land use with transport facilitieso High building densities nearby mass rapid transit systems

Road Development●

● Problems with ALS:o Too much manpowero Inconvenient (still requires waiting,

for the license)

SolutionsArea Licensing Scheme (ALS), 1975

● Drivers purchase a license to go through designated Restricted Zones during rush hour

● Restricted Zones were only found in the CBD

● Only city in the world to implement something like this!

● World Bank conducted a before-and-after study:o 45% reduction in traffico 25% decline in vehicle crasheso Average travel speed increased

from 11 mph to 21 mph

The Situation - 1990sVehicles per km of road (Source: The World Bank)

SolutionsUrban Planning

● Relocating commercial activity to 4 major suburban areas; commuters are closer to their jobs

Road Development● 11% of the country is taken up by roads; 13% is taken up by housing● Government investment: Spending 1.1 billion SGD (6.7 billion HKD) to expand the road network

during 1995-2000

Technological Opportunities● Underground road systems: Expensive (estimated capital cost = 4.8 billion SGD, operating cost

= 80 million SGD / year) but increases city centre road capacity by 40%● Green Link Determining System (GLIDE): Increases ‘green time’ for vehicles according to the

situation, allows traffic signal faults to be rectified efficiently

SolutionsALS → Electronic Road Pricing (ERP), 1998

● All vehicles have an On-Board Unit (OBU)● Cash Card inserted at the start of the journey● Charge is deducted and displayed on OBU every time a ERP gantry is passed

(Charge varies according to traffic conditions, vehicle type, time, location)● Emergency vehicles exempted

● 2005: ERP system expanded to other major roads● System is revised every 3 months● Traffic levels decreased by 15%● 65% of commuters use public transport (increase of 20%)● 176,400 pound reduction in CO2 emissions, 22 pound reduction in soot in charged areas● Cost of implementing ERP system = 125 million USD● Revenue = 50 million USD, Net Profit = 40 million USD

SolutionsReducing Car Ownership

● Adding taxes and charges to buying vehicleso Open Market Value (OMV)

The value of the vehicle determined by Customs

o Import Duty (ID)o Goods and Service Tax (GST)o Registration Fee (RF)o Additional Registration Fee (ARF)o Annual Road Tax (ART)

● Vehicle Quota System (VQS), 1990Implemented by the Land Transport Authority (LTA)o Potential vehicle owners bid for a

Certificate of Entitlement (COE)o Quota on COEs are determined

twice a year

- 41,000 fewer vehicles registered between 1990-1993

- Car Ownership in Singapore = 39%

LIC Case StudyLagos

The Causes

● Rapid industrialisation

● Emerging as a strong economic market in Africa

● Deteriorating quality of life in city centre (Slums) ; which narrows

the roads down

● Increasing population - the rate is slowing down but still increasing rapidly

Possible Solutions● Road Development

Make wider roads to spread out trafficMake ring roads to circle the city to reduce traffic in city

● Reducing Car OwnershipIncrease taxes and increase tax of fuel prices to reduce people wanting to own cars

● Use bridges and tunnels to divert trafficAdd additional was to move around the city

● Congestion Charging Ask people to pay to enter CBD during peak hours to reduce congestions

SourcesHow Stuff Workshttp://auto.howstuffworks.com/car-driving-safety/accidents-hazardous-conditions/traffic1.htmTraffic Waveshttp://trafficwaves.org/IBMhttp://www.ibm.com/smarterplanet/us/en/traffic_congestion/ideas/The World Bank http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IS.VEH.ROAD.K1?order=wbapi_data_value_2011+wbapi_data_value+wbapi_data_value-last&sort=deschttp://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTABOUTUS/EXTARCHIVES/0,,contentMDK:21029453~pagePK:36726~piPK:437378~theSitePK:29506,00.htmlSingapore Infopediahttp://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_2014-04-07_110024.html

Department of Statistics, Singaporehttp://www.singstat.gov.sg/statistics/browse_by_theme/population.htmlStudent Report from UCLhttp://www.ucl.ac.uk/dpu-projects/drivers_urb_change/urb_infrastructure/pdf_transport/HABITAT_BestPractice_Yuan_Transportation.pdfDAC& Citieshttp://www.dac.dk/en/dac-cities/sustainable-cities/all-cases/transport/singapore-the-worlds-first-digital-congestion-charging-system/One Motoringhttp://www.onemotoring.com.sg/publish/onemotoring/en/on_the_roads/traffic_management/intelligent_transport_systems/glide.htmlTransport Policy Bloghttp://transportpolicy2013.blogspot.hk/2013/04/singapore-traffic-congestion-solution.html