Transport Problems

What are the problems caused by heavy traffic flow in urban

areas?

Different modes of transport

Capacity Speed Reliability Cost Size / space requirements Facilities required

Animal-driven carts

Man-powered vehicles

Line of decorated bicycle rickshaws in front of Khoo Kongsi Temple and clan house, of the Dragon Mountain Hall clan, in Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia.

Man-powered vehicles

The main promenade in Mussoorie, as in other Indian towns, is referred to as The Mall.

Man-powered vehicles

The main promenade in Mussoorie, as in other Indian towns, is referred to as The Mall.

Man-power vehicles

Richshaws in Bangladesh Tricycle in Bangkok

Man-power vehicles

Man-powered vehicles

Cyclists in Ho Chih Ming City, Chengdu and Beijing

Mechanically-powered vehicles

Electrified vehicles

Modes of transport

Carts Rickshaws Tricycles Bicycles Motorbikes Motor cars Buses Minibuses Omnibuses

Trains Surface railways Underground railways Light rail transit Monorail Magnetically-levitated

railway

How serious traffic congestion is in MDC and LDC cities?

All roads cramped Crowded trains / buses Unbearably long commuting journey

Traffic jams are a ubiquitous and frequent malady in the capital. Not only are they frustrating, the high levels of heavy metals produced by the emissions have contributed to make Bangkok one of the most polluted cities in the world.

Cars are stuck in traffic jams in the Russian capital.

1905-Chicago, Illinois: Traffic jam at Randolph and Dearborn streets.

Heavy traffic on Sheikh Zayed Road, the main road from Dubai to Abu Dhabi

Street traffic near the Victory Monument in Bangkok

Traffic speeds are greatly reduced as the streets in central city are congested

View of elevated monorail and rush hour traffic in Kuala Lumpur.

roads are full of buses, private cars and taxis; slow movement around and out of the city --> long travelling time

Traffic Jam in Dhaka

Traffic Jam in Central Beijing

e.g. vehicle speeds are often reduced to less than 15km/hr during rush hours

Traffic jams in California during rush hours

Rush hours may last for 2-3 hours in some cities, e.g. London, New York, San Francisco

Cars, trucks, and vans in a traffic jam in Tijuana street.

Traffic jams in Atlanta

e.g. in London, some 140,000 people in nearly 100,000 cars enter the central area from the suburbs daily between 7-10 a.m. on weekdays

Traffic congestion in HK

Buses and trains and packed to capacity

Causes of traffic congestion in LDC cities

Narrow streets built in the past cannot accommodate the increasing traffic in old cities, e.g. wu tung in Beijing, Taipei, Cairo

Poor traffic management in third-world cities, e.g. animals are allowed to move on the roads freely in Calcutta & Bombay since cattle are sacred animals in India

Poor maintenance of cars creates traffic congestion and air pollution

Some traditional forms of transport (donkey-carts / rickshaws / trams) are inefficient and still in use

Causes of traffic congestion in MDC cities

Great number of private cars due to economic prosperity

Increased suburbanization leads to long commuting journeys

All these increase road demand and traffic congestion during rush hours

Lack of parking zones in inner city and CBD

How’re the public transport services in LDC cities?

About 80% of the total demand for public transport is concentrated in 20 hours of the week

During rush-hours each day, the road and transport facilities are used to capacity or over

But at other times, they’re either under-utilized or lying idle

Problems of transport services in MDC and LDC cities Insufficient public transport services to meet pea

k-hour traffic demand Peak-hour traffic congestion is difficult to solve as

offices and factories have similar working hours from 9 to 5

Uneven distribution of usage of public transport facilities is common, e.g. public transport systems are often overloaded during hours but suffer from the problem of too few passengers during off-peak-hour period

Therefore, transport services are irregular, hence unreliable and deteriorating

Overall operating costs are pushed up and fares are higher

What makes the problem worse in LDC cities?

Insufficient public facilities as LDC governments are not able to afford elaborate public transport systems

The existing public transport systems are usually outdated, insufficient and overused.

Many areas are unserved by public transport services

Non-powered and man-powered transport vehicles become the major means of urban transport for most people in third-world cities

The poor cannot afford transport services.

How’s the situation in MDC cities?

The commuter rail system in Tokyo has a typical morning rush hour, overloaded to over 300% of capacity

How’s the situation in MDC cities?

In Paris, the metro operates at 115% capacity

Narrow streets

Inadequate parking space

Umihotaru Parking Area, built on a man made island, is part of the Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line highway tunnel across Tokyo Bay.

Does traffic problem cause adverse impacts on environment?

How does heavy traffic cause adverse environmental impacts?

Heavy traffic produces air and noise pollution. This problem is aggravated by tall buildings which hinder pollutant dispersal and sound dispersion. air pollution becomes more serious because motor vehicles

are the major sources of air pollutants. emission of exhaust gases, lead particles, respiratory suspe

nded particulates (RSP) and heat this leads to adverse environmental impact like smo

g, acidification of precipitation and health hazards, e.g. respiratory diseases, lung cancer, brain damage

urban heat island effect intensified. low-quality fuels with high sulphur content are used. noise pollution

Negative impacts of transport problems on urban growth

increasing traffic congestion leads to an increase in transport cost and a decrease in economic productivity.

urban transport development plans are hindered. An increase in traffic demand may be caused by the influx of in-migrants which may not afford higher transport cost

Insufficient space within the central areas for large-scale urban transport improvement programs.

The lack of proper inter-modal co-ordination (inter-city transport)