<Author>Aaron</Author>
<Topic>Current Traffic Problems</Topic>
<Source></Source>
<Nationality>USA</Nationality>
Automobile traffic congestion is a major problem in most cities and some rural areas. It is annoying, polluting, and time wasting. It is caused by excessive numbers of vehicles and poor city road planning. The encouragement of fewer vehicles and better road design may help alleviate the problem.
In the United States, having at least one car is an important part of life. Therefore, discouragement of private automobile use in favor of public transportation is a difficult prospect. However, cities such as Atlanta have been somewhat successful with the instatement of "high-occupancy vehicle (H.O.V.)" lanes. One may only drive in such lanes during working hours if one's car has (a) passenger(s). Violators are ticketed. Such encourages "car pooling," and total numbers of vehicles on the roads are reduced.
City and road design also cause problems. Many American cities are built on the central place model, with the central business district in the middle, commercial areas outside and around the CBD, and residential areas outside and around the commercial areas (sometimes it is not circular, but separate nonetheless). As more people obtain automobiles to navigate this design, more roads are built. However, instead of relieving traffic congestion, more roads attract greater numbers of vehicles. Thus a vicious cycle is created. Synchronization of traffic lights, building overpasses, and logical road rules (read one-way streets) can help the problem.
City planners have not yet discovered ways to eliminate severe traffic congestion. Progress has been made, though, and further development should find a way to eliminate this annoyance.