| Ending Traffic Jams Without New Roads |
| Written by Hank Green | ||
| Tuesday, 29 August 2006 | ||
 Traffic is pretty near the top of the list of the most evil things in
the world. Traffic makes people angry and unhappy. Traffic wastes a
colossal amount of fuel. Traffic encourages the construction of
massive, expensive and wasteful roadways. But there's no good
solution. Not yet anyways.
New research coming out of the University of Texas shows that there might be a way to avoid all the anger and waste that traffic brings on our society, and all they need is to put an RFID tag in your car. Kara Kockelman has created a computer model that shows that per-mile tolls for congested roads at high-traffic times of the day will increase rush-hour traffic speeds by about 25 miles per hour. The solution is an elegant one because it decreases traffic without added infrastructure. It's inelegant because it raises all kinds of freaky privacy issues and also the technology would make it possible for the police to automatically give you a ticket if you ever drive over the speed limit. And that would be lame.
Via TechnologyReview
Comments
(4)
What about ...
written by a guest , August 30, 2006
If I drive at uncongested times or on uncongested roads, do I get a rebate on tolls? Probably not.
Alright in theory...
written by a guest , August 30, 2006
But if you start work at 8am and finish at 5pm, what are you supposed to do, hang around the car park for a couple of hours?
size matters
written by a guest , August 30, 2006
I would suggest instead that registration fees be adjusted drastically to favor motorcycles and smaller vehicles in general. I drive a tractor-trailer and see the effect that large vehicles have on traffic congestion. If motorcycles were allowed to split lanes, they could reduce backups by increasing density rather than volume.
Flexible work hours or days
written by a guest , August 31, 2006
Another solution, (one that I have gotten my employer used to), is to just shift your work hours earlier or later than most other people so that I avoid rush hour. Of course as more people do it, the effectiveness diminishes.
Also, there could be a voluntary initiative to have people work different 5 days each week between Monday and Saturday. In certain white collar jobs, this could be done and each day's rush hour would be less severe. www.thingsivenoticed.com | ||
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