Congestion The 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 Lack of space Suburbanisation, increase of satellite settlements & commuter towns

Causes Disturbances leading to “traffic waves”: construction double-parking (lack of government control) accidents (weather conditions, drunk driving...)

Effects

HIC Case Study Singapore

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

Solutions Urban Planning Connecting land use with transport facilities High building densities nearby mass rapid transit systems Road Development

Solutions Area 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: 45% reduction in traffic 25% decline in vehicle crashes Average travel speed increased from 11 mph to 21 mph Problems with ALS: Too much manpower Inconvenient (still requires waiting, for the license)

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

Solutions Urban 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

Solutions ALS → 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

Solutions Reducing Car Ownership Adding taxes and charges to buying vehicles Open Market Value (OMV) The value of the vehicle determined by Customs Import Duty (ID) Goods and Service Tax (GST) Registration Fee (RF) Additional Registration Fee (ARF) Annual Road Tax (ART) Vehicle Quota System (VQS), 1990 Implemented by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) Potential vehicle owners bid for a Certificate of Entitlement (COE) Quota on COEs are determined twice a year 41,000 fewer vehicles registered between 1990-1993 Car Ownership in Singapore = 39%

LIC Case Study Lagos

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 traffic Make ring roads to circle the city to reduce traffic in city Reducing Car Ownership Increase taxes and increase tax of fuel prices to reduce people wanting to own cars Use bridges and tunnels to divert traffic Add additional was to move around the city Congestion Charging Ask people to pay to enter CBD during peak hours to reduce congestions

Sources How Stuff Works http://auto.howstuffworks.com/car-driving-safety/accidents-hazardous-conditions/traffic1.htm Traffic Waves http://trafficwaves.org/ IBM http://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=desc http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTABOUTUS/EXTARCHIVES/0,,contentMDK:21029453~pagePK:36726~piPK:437378~theSitePK:29506,00.html Singapore Infopedia http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_2014-04-07_110024.html Department of Statistics, Singapore http://www.singstat.gov.sg/statistics/browse_by_theme/population.html Student Report from UCL http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dpu-projects/drivers_urb_change/urb_infrastructure/pdf_transport/HABITAT_BestPractice_Yuan_Transportation.pdf DAC& Cities http://www.dac.dk/en/dac-cities/sustainable-cities/all-cases/transport/singapore-the-worlds-first-digital-congestion-charging-system/ One Motoring http://www.onemotoring.com.sg/publish/onemotoring/en/on_the_roads/traffic_management/intelligent_transport_systems/glide.html Transport Policy Blog http://transportpolicy2013.blogspot.hk/2013/04/singapore-traffic-congestion-solution.html