According to my dad, some things in life, namely death and taxes, are simply unavoidable. While I would never question his wisdom, I would respectfully add one more thing to his list: traffic—snarling, noisy, smoke-belching, infuriating, stop-and-go traffic. It’s become such a part of our lives that we plan our commutes around it, choose our homes to avoid it, estimate travel time based on it, and buy in-car gadgets that are supposed to help us steer clear of it.
Nobody likes sitting in traffic, but aside from how we feel about it, traffic just isn’t good for us. Congestion causes pollution and contributes to car accidents, pedestrian and bike injuries, stress, road rage, and a host of other social maladies. But planners in a few pioneering cities and countries aren’t accepting traffic as just one more unpleasant fact of life; they’re proposing solutions they hope will cut down on vehicular chaos and make the streets more livable for everyone.
Congestion Pricing
Although this idea can take many forms, it works on the simple principle of supply and demand: peak-hour road space is in short supply, and those who demand access should pay extra for it. In London, vehicles driving in the city center during business hours are required to pay a toll. Since 2003, when the city began charging this £5 toll, congestion has dropped 30 percent, traffic speed has risen 37 percent, and vehicle emissions have dropped by 12 percent, according to the Environmental Defense Fund. Singapore, Stockholm, and several cities in Norway have adopted similar plans. Chicago is currently considering a congestion-pricing plan in which drivers using the faster left-hand lane would be required to pay a toll, and many cities around the country use congestion pricing to determine bridge tolls. The approach is meant to encourage the use of public transportation and carpooling, and the collected tolls are often used to fund transit infrastructure. However, opponents of these plans allege that they disproportionately affect the poor and middle class, who are the most likely to have to give up driving due to the tolls, leaving less-cluttered highways for the rich, who can afford the fees.
Shared Space
When most people think of traffic management, they probably think about the addition of rules and regulations; but one traffic-calming concept advocates the opposite strategy: removing rules and regulations altogether. Originating in the Netherlands several decades ago, the concept of shared space has spread throughout Northern Europe and the United Kingdom. Many towns in Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK have found that their traffic flows better without lane markings, signals, barriers, signs, or any impediments beyond a basic speed limit. The theory is that drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians are more alert about their surroundings without any clear right-of-way. They are also thought to be more courteous and respectful of each other. Shared space operates on the same principle as highways without speed limits do—it forces people to be more vigilant. Rather than reducing traffic flow, shared-space schemes aim to make the existing traffic safer; the plan is best for smaller cities or quiet areas within large cities. In the United States, Santa Monica, Seattle, Cambridge, and New York City are implementing the shared-space idea.
