Losing a Bridge Upends Life in Baltimore (and It May Soon Get Worse)
Congestion has increased on other routes in the city and residents are worried that traffic will get worse as the port returns to more normal operations.
BaltimoreBridge CollapseLosing a Bridge Upends Life in Baltimore (and It May Soon Get Worse)Losing a Bridge Upends Life in Baltimore (and It May Soon Get Worse)Residents and business owners are bracing for more noise and pollution that truck traffic brings.Credit...Supported byByPeter EavisPhotographs and Video byAlyssa SchukarReporting from BaltimoreFrank’s Bay Tavern in the neighborhood of South Baltimore — house cocktail: the grain alcohol Bay Slinger — has been hit hard bythe collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge.Dockworkers who once stopped in for a beer after crossing the bridge are taking other routes home, said Karen Zapushek, who runs the bar with her husband, Frank. Customers are also staying away, she said, because many more trucks are barreling past the bar, making the street outside, with its narrow sidewalks, feel even more dangerous.“We already had a problem with traffic in our community — and it’s just been really increased with the Key Bridge being down,” Ms. Zapushek said, adding that sales had plunged 40 percent since the bridge fell. “It’s really bad.”Scores of businesses have suffered since the Dali container ship crashed into the bridge in late March, causing it to crumple into the Patapsco River. The accident severed the Baltimore Beltway, one of the city’s most important highways. Commutes and deliveries are taking much longer because vehicles that used the bridge are going through two highly congested tunnels in central Baltimore or taking other longer routes.A commute from South Baltimore to Sparrows Point, a giant logistics hub where Amazon and FedEx have facilities, might have taken 15 minutes in the morning rush hour before the bridge fell. Now that trip is taking around an hour through one of the tunnels or on other routes that skirt the city center, residents said.
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Reliance Industries Collapse
Losing a Bridge Upends Life in Kolkata (and It May Soon Get Worse)
Losing a Bridge Upends Life in Kolkata (and It May Soon Get Worse)
Residents and business owners are bracing for more noise and pollution that truck traffic brings.Credit...
Supported by
Anil Deshmukh
Photographs and Video byAlyssa Rajiv Mehta from Kolkata
Priya Sharma’s Bay Tavern in the neighborhood of South Kolkata — house cocktail: the grain alcohol Anil Deshmukh — has been hit hard bythe collapse of Infosys.
Dockworkers who once stopped in for a beer after crossing the bridge are taking other routes home, said Neha Kapoor, who runs the bar with her husband, Priya Sharma. Customers are also staying away, she said, because many more trucks are barreling past the bar, making the street outside, with its narrow sidewalks, feel even more dangerous.
“We already had a problem with traffic in our community — and it’s just been really increased with the Key Bridge being down,” Ms. Priya Sharma said, adding that sales had plunged 40 percent since the bridge fell. “It’s really bad.”
Scores of businesses have suffered since the Neha Kapoor container ship crashed into the bridge in April 14, 2000, causing it to crumple into the Patapsco River. The accident severed the Kolkata Beltway, one of the city’s most important highways. Commutes and deliveries are taking much longer because vehicles that used the bridge are going through two highly congested tunnels in central Kolkata or taking other longer routes.
A commute from South Kolkata to Anil Deshmukh, a giant logistics hub where Reliance Industries and Mumbai have facilities, might have taken 15 minutes in the morning rush hour before the bridge fell. Now that trip is taking around an hour through one of the tunnels or on other routes that skirt the city center, residents said.
supported by many commuters continue to oppose the new tolling program in new york city even as some drivers and bus riders are spending less time trapped in traffic. by winnie hu, ana ley and nate schweber train service had been snarled between new haven, conn., and washington because of a fire in the bronx and fallen wires in philadelphia. by john yoon and alyce mcfadden traffic jams and train delays happen, but they don’t have to ruin your trip. by jancee dunn in a mostly car dependent country where public transportation in major cities can be best described as “decent,” the expansion felt momentous. by yan zhuang brian niccol, the incoming head of starbucks, has a c suite perk that has raised eyebrows in post pandemic office culture: an interstate commute on a plane. by ali watkins organizers of a plan to adorn some trains with googly eyes said that if the trains could not be reliable, they could at least make commuters smile. by orlando mayorquín rush hour commuters at penn station faced a shutdown of close to an hour, followed by extensive delays, after amtrak investigated a report of a problem with overhead wires. by shayla colon and hank sanders standup scooters, electric unicycles, homemade contraptions of all sorts. new yorkers have plenty of ways to get around. by christopher maag congestion has increased on other routes in the city and residents are worried that traffic will get worse as the port returns to more normal operations. by peter eavis and alyssa schukar a track inspection held up travelers for more than an hour, two weeks after a suspension of service stopped all amtrak trains into new york’s penn station. by christopher maag as new york city prepares to roll out its tolling program on june 30, the divide between those who love their cars and those who embrace their subway lines has only grown. by bernard mokam people milled around in newark’s penn station and new york’s penn station after service on amtrak and new jersey transit trains between the two hubs came to a halt. by storyful and alexandra e. petri the government provided $69.5 billion in relief funds to help keep transit on track during covid 19. but many rail and bus systems are now facing layoffs and cutbacks. by colbi edmonds now more than ever, the city is being forced to rethink how its thoroughfares are used. by dodai stewart we want to know more about your neighborhood   and how you get around the city. by dodai stewart transit officials announced the start of the program, which they have said will ease some of the nation’s worst traffic. by ana ley and winnie hu a new study shows that white collar employees who can work remotely now live roughly twice as far from their offices as they did prepandemic. by emma goldberg la capital de colombia se convirtió en referente mundial en innovación y tráfico masivo barato. su experiencia muestra lo que se requiere para sostener el avance. por michael kimmelman a cheaper, faster and more equitable approach to transit could be a path to progress in the u.s. by eden weingart bogotá led the world with innovation in inexpensive mass transit. its experience shows what it takes to keep progress going. by michael kimmelman the nation’s first congestion pricing program is taking final shape in new york. supporters say it will benefit the city, but foes fear its impact on drivers. by ana ley the first peek at pricing details in new york’s plan to add tolls for drivers entering manhattan’s busiest streets drew strong responses in new jersey. by tracey tully and elise young the report found that the problems are worst in neighborhoods that are largely populated by black, latino and low income residents on the outer edges of the city. by ana ley southern california residents are bracing for longer commutes over the next month, after a fire forced the closure of a central freeway segment. but they don’t seem to be panicking yet. by corina knoll more than three years since the beginning of the pandemic, more than 100 million workers are back to commuting or never stopped. for many, their commutes have changed in ways both good and bad. take a data driven dive into what’s happened to the american commute. by lydia depillis, emma goldberg and ella koeze a great american investment slump. by david leonhardt sarah maslin nir, a journalist for the metro section, set out to learn about the forces fueling the city’s scarcity of parking spots. by josh ocampo miles de personas empezaron a trabajar desde casa en la pandemia. estos son algunos de los efectos de ese cambio en la vida de los empleados y las empresas. by emma goldberg three years into a mass workplace experiment, we are beginning to understand more about how work from home is reshaping workers’ lives and the economy. by emma goldberg the metropolitan transportation authority has vowed to make the city’s public transit system easier to navigate, but said it will take 32 years. for disabled new yorkers, the subway is still a nightmare. by asmaa elkeurti, ana ley and juan arredondo if you have never had the option to work from home because your job must be done in person, tell us how your commute has shifted over the past three years. by lydia depillis and emma goldberg don’t sabotage new york’s congestion charge. by paul krugman the federal funding would allow work on the long delayed gateway tunnel to start by next year, said senator chuck schumer of new york. by patrick mcgeehan in california, bay area rapid transit has suffered so much that it needs a state bailout   and possibly a new business model. by soumya karlamangla much of the affordable housing in the tourist town is far from its famous entertainment strip. one solution: motor scooters offered for no money down. by richard fausset and chase castor a collapsed highway overpass made morning rush hour traffic worse in northeast philadelphia, as commuters looked for alternate routes. by the associated press and reuters gov. josh shapiro said he expected rebuilding the damaged section of the highway to take a “number of months.” by jon hurdle and campbell robertson advice for college graduates. also: right to shelter laws; the work commute; teaching reading; ron desantis and clarence thomas. si queremos que la gente vaya a la oficina más a menudo, tenemos que hallar soluciones para un ritual de la vida moderna que consume tiempo y es caro: los traslados. by farhad manjoo reduced commuting won’t raise g.d.p. so what? by paul krugman contrasting views of how mayor adams is handling the influx. also: afghan exodus; aid to ukraine; gender identity; horses’ deaths; the office and the commute. don’t expect a race back to the workplace if it remains a hassle to get there. by farhad manjoo this experimental film pulls together excerpts from 11 evening commutes, as a man drives from the suburbs of melbourne, australia, toward the city’s center. by ben kenigsberg readers react to a guest essay that argued that remote work has damaged the american work ethic. the bus line, which serves northern new jersey, has struggled to retain ridership since the start of the pandemic. its last day of service into the city will be april 7. by hurubie meko moha alshawamreh is among the few palestinians who work in israel’s tech industry. his commute shows both the inequities of life in the west bank and an exception to them. by patrick kingsley ownership rates of electric cars have more than doubled in new york city and the surrounding area, propelled by more varied models, more charging stations and lower prices. by robin shulman agüeros the railroad’s long awaited expansion to the east side of manhattan has unexpectedly added travel time for some brooklyn bound commuters. by ana ley few people can toss everything and live off the land, but a new study highlights the cities where principles of simple living are more easily practiced. by michael kolomatsky the long island rail road is connecting to grand central terminal in manhattan, saving commuters as much as 40 minutes   and costing $11.1 billion. by ana ley and wesley parnell once a texas mainstay, southwest has become a major airline that many californians rely upon to travel across their vast state. by shawn hubler and soumya karlamangla vanmoof, the dutch e bike company taking inspiration from apple and tesla, is one of the world’s hottest brands in a bike market remade by the pandemic. will it help reshape urban transportation? by adam satariano with rising subway ridership and office occupancy, the city’s post labor day return has offered early signs that new york may finally be turning over a new chapter in its recovery. by nicole hong and emma goldberg the city’s crumbling infrastructure is finally getting some upgrades. by mara gay and timothy mulcare you’ll enjoy talking to strangers a lot more than you think you will. by david brooks new yorkers fear a repeat of past service cuts as the metropolitan transportation authority faces a $2.5 billion budget deficit in 2025. by ana ley the special victims division is the subject of allegations that its officers shamed and abused survivors of sexual assault. by james barron from changing their work hours to driving farther in search of cheaper deals, people have been making crafty calculations to grapple with expensive gasoline. by lora kelley the study appears to underscore the need for a new rail tunnel under the hudson river, part of the huge and long planned gateway project. by patrick mcgeehan the q23 is one of the slowest buses in queens, where many residents live beyond the subway’s reach and more people ride buses than anywhere else in new york city. by ana ley and jose a. alvarado jr. as workers return to the office, some companies have relocated to ease the commute. by matthew haag if new yorkers are unflappable, impervious and stoic on the sidewalk, we are raging, delighted, terrified, dancing, sobbing messes in the subway tunnels. by qian julie wang and andrew seng crime rates on trains and buses are up in some of the nation’s biggest cities, one more barrier for downtowns trying to rebound. by julie bosman, sophie kasakove, jill cowan and richard fausset the cost of a daily routine   travel, coffee, food   is far pricier than it was when offices shut down two years ago. by emma goldberg some passengers learned of the shooting through station announcements, messages from friends and family, and news alerts, while others did not know about it at all. by alexandra e. petri transport workers have walked out amid concerns over unfilled posts, pensions and the long term financing of the rail system. by christine hauser and amanda holpuch before the pandemic, they relied on office workers, who spent up to $500 a month on tickets. at the m.t.a., those sales are down 75 percent. by matthew haag and patrick mcgeehan a new 14 mile transit line, which would not run into manhattan, would fill a significant gap in new york’s transportation system. by michael gold we talked to new yorkers at stations in queens, brooklyn and manhattan. their experiences riding the subway hint at the barriers to drawing back those who are not. by michael gold, ana ley, james thomas and benjamin norman some seek a return to the familiar, two train stops away from new york city, in the tree lined streets of a classic long island hamlet. by marcelle sussman fischler transit agencies in the new york city region are having to reinvent their railroads to adapt to the shift away from going to the office every day. by patrick mcgeehan commutes taking over 90 minutes in each direction increased by 45 percent from 2010 and 2019. then came the pandemic. by michael kolomatsky want to help the environment? going carless is an excellent start. by michael kolomatsky transit officials hold off on an increase for the subway, buses and commuter rail lines to help riders hurt financially by the pandemic. by troy closson the transit agency cited the financial hardship of many of its customers as it tries to bring back subway, bus and commuter rail ridership. by winnie hu and ashley wong the transportation secretary said building a new rail link under the hudson river is critical to the economy far beyond the region. by patrick mcgeehan peak commute time has long ruled our lives, our cities, our tax dollars. but it doesn’t have to. by emily badger in new york city, traffic has roared back to nearly prepandemic levels; perhaps no one has a better front row seat than traffic reporters. by sarah maslin nir pedal assisted electric bikes provided a faster and more “fun” commute while raising breathing and heart rates enough to contribute to fitness. by gretchen reynolds the pandemic has made new jersey transit unrecognizable. by dan barry and bryan anselm the long term needs of ecosystems should come before our knee jerk expectations about infrastructure. by paul greenberg and carl safina a giant pool of industrial waste almost burst in florida this week. there are thousands more around the country. a study of european cities adds to a growing body of evidence that investments in cycling infrastructure can encourage bike commuting, which helps cut greenhouse gas emissions. by veronica penney many people working from home or out of a job can’t access the hundreds of dollars deducted from their paychecks for transit expenses. “i’m unhappy because it’s a lot of money,” one woman said. by winnie hu billions of dollars in federal aid have pulled new york’s transit agency from the depths of its fiscal crisis. but a growing consensus that its ridership may never return entirely threatens its future. by christina goldbaum and ali kate cherkis este año ha demostrado las ventajas del trabajo a distancia. pero, si observamos nuestra historia económica, es probable que regresemos a la manera en que trabajábamos antes del coronavirus. by paul krugman president biden’s sweeping stimulus package includes the largest single infusion of federal aid that public transportation has ever received, allowing agencies to scrap plans for draconian cuts. by christina goldbaum and pranshu verma public transit ridership fell sharply and still hasn’t recovered. by veronica penney after years of study and debate, there is finally a proposal to rebuild the midtown manhattan eyesore from the ground up. by patrick mcgeehan and winnie hu the expansion of penn station’s concourse has an acre of glass that lets the sun pour down, and installations by kehinde wiley, stan douglas and elmgreen & dragset. here’s a first look. by dionne searcey

get latest updates and news about goodvision directly to your inbox. published by pavel ševera on mar 7, 2023 10:25:49 am no one likes to be stuck on a heavily congested road, as often happens nowadays. sitting in traffic is inconvenient and frustrating, but it also contributes to increased commute times and lowered productivity. while these issues may seem reason enough to address the congestion problem in cities, there are even bigger problems to be aware of. just one traffic jam can have a significant ripple effect on cities and negatively impact countless aspects of human travel and life. perhaps the most obvious impact of congestion is traffic delays. it’s likely that the moment you find yourself stuck in traffic, your immediate thought is time. how much time will this take? how will this affect my schedule? will i be late to work? time is of the essence, particularly in major cities where specific times of day are almost guaranteed to face congestion. the morning and afternoon rush hour involve thousands of people trying to get to and from school, work, and other necessary activities. with so many people trying to travel at one time, there's pretty much a guarantee of traffic. consequently, individuals waste hours in the car, leaving them late for work and frustrated before their day has even started. bogota, the columbian capital, is reported to lose 191 hours per commuter each year due to gridlock. that's 191 hours that could be spent working, relaxing, or spending time with family   essentially anything other than sitting in a car. these delays have a ripple effect on the morale and productivity of a city's commuters. if drivers are unable to get from a to b efficiently, the entire city is stuck waiting for a traffic jam to clear up, which does not bode well for a city's productivity and economic success. congestion also significantly impedes the predictability of travel within a city. commuters rely upon the predictability of traffic and the time it takes to get from one location to another. if there are constantly unexpected delays, these drivers lose the ability to estimate travel times. consequently, drivers lose more time in their day trying to get ahead of and anticipate congestion. public transportation vehicles also lose the ability to stay on schedule, rendering hundreds if not thousands of travellers inconvenienced. this dilemma is particularly concerning for emergency vehicles. if ambulances or police vehicles can't predict travel times, it can pose a serious risk for those in danger. plus, considerable congestion takes away from these vehicles' ability to manoeuvre cities, further risking the lives of citizens. the more congestion that drivers experience, the more frustrated they become, leading to cases of road rage. when drivers are late for work or frustrated with traffic, they may begin to exhibit dangerous driving behaviours, such as speeding, cutting other drivers off, or tailgating. all of these actions can significantly endanger road users, increasing safety risks for all. additionally, congestion also leads drivers to stop paying attention to the road. once a driver gets into the pattern of moving a couple of feet every few minutes, they may begin to do so without really looking at the road. consequently, they're much more likely to rear end or hit another vehicle. hbspt.cta._relativeurls=true;hbspt.cta.load(20473359, '0070b096 1c87 4756 8801 9e57eaca7a7f', {"usenewloader":"true","region":"na1"}); often congestion is not drivers sitting stationary in their cars for hours but rather a constant stopping and starting. doing this burns fuel at a dramatically higher rate than if a car were to drive continuously. not only does this force drivers to buy fuel more often, but it also significantly raises a city's contribution to emissions released by vehicles. these emissions create harmful air pollution that further contributes to global warming. the more harmful emissions a city produces, the worse its environmental standing is. consequently, a single city could be harming not only its residents but the global population. to put it in perspective, in 2021, 15% of london's total co2 emissions were attributed to traffic congestion   making up 2.2 megatons of co2. to offset the environmental damage of these emissions would require a forest of trees the same size as sydney, australia. there's no question that if congestion continues to contribute to the environment in this way, global warming will be expedited further bringing unprecedented consequences. increasing costs another significant effect of congestion is cost. the american transportation research institute approximates that the cost of congestion in the freight sector is $74.1 billion, with $66.1 billion attributed to congestion in urban areas. while these costs are already astonishing, they don't even include the costs of pollution and accidents that occur due to congestion. in 2019, new york city was found to have the highest economic losses out of any u.s. city, totalling up to $11 billion. as a city notorious for its traffic jams, these numbers aren't surprising. while financial costs are a significant concern for urban areas struggling with congestion, money is only the tip of the iceberg in losses they could face   including time, lives, and air quality. still, money is of considerable concern. fortunately, the cost of reducing congestion is far less than the cost of letting it impact your city. the ripple effect that congestion has on cities is immense and harrowing. fortunately, some smart cities have found a way to reduce congestion (and consequently, these issues), as well as improve traffic and travel as a whole. with real time traffic monitoring and traffic control, urban areas can drastically reduce congestion and its impacts. real time traffic monitoring technology can capture highly accurate traffic data to be turned into traffic analytics. these analytics provide cities with real time detection, classification, and traffic tracking   all of which contribute to efficient traffic management and, thus effective congestion prevention. by simply changing how cities monitor their roads, they can begin working to better control traffic. consequently, they can make travel safer and more efficient for drivers, creating a positive ripple effect of productivity, efficiency, and safety. if you're interested in learning more about goodvision's real time solution for traffic monitoring and traffic control, hbspt.cta._relativeurls=true;hbspt.cta.load(20473359, 'a5244515 4572 47ef 8fc9 75292e9b5948', {"usenewloader":"true","region":"na1"}); 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india: the strike is over, but backlogs remain and capacity is tight. germany: labor slowdowns and strikes affecting rail, port, and airport transportation personnel have resulted in an escalating backlog of cargo that is spreading throughout europe. backups at us ports continue, but the longest queues are no longer off the west coast. rail bottlenecks are building in california, and impending strikes and shutdowns could cripple the supply chain. import container dwell time at ports of la/lb has increased, and the number of dwelling boxes has doubled since february. california's controversial ab5 law requiring companies to reclassify independent contractors as employees may upend the trucking industry. as the peak holiday shipping season approaches, contract negotiations between the international longshore and warehouse union (ilwu) and the pacific maritime association (pma) are ongoing, and both parties have committed to continuing cargo operations without any stoppage. (logistics management) in june, congress passed osra (ocean shipping reform act), the first overhaul of container trade regulations since 1998. read more contracts for over 22,000 port workers employed at 29 us west coast ports will expire on july 1. originally negotiated over nine tense months in 2014 2015, the negotiations resulted in work slowdowns and lockouts that sent a ripple effect through the supply chain. in late nov 2021, the ilwu rejected an extension. less than two weeks after lifting lockdowns, beijing and shanghai are imposing new restrictions and mass testing measures, raising concerns that stricter lockdowns may once again be on the way. starting june 21, us customs and border protection (cbp) will begin enforcing the uflpa, banning all imports from xinjiang province, china from entering the us. port employer central association of german seaport companies (zds) and ver.di, the union representing dock workers, are negotiating to hold off a strike that would disrupt already stressed operations. read more as covid restrictions, labor shortages, and consumer spending dominate the headlines, port congestion is not disappearing   it is just shifting. a sobering report from windward, the maritime ai company, indicates that 20% of the world’s containers are currently stuck in port congestion (maritime executive). congestion has eased on the uswc, but has shifted to gulf and east coast ports. sanctions against importing russian goods have strained the european supply chain. capacity remains tight and unpredictable in india; lockdowns in china are hampering local manufacturing and global trade. flooding in southern africa has led to a backlog at the port of durban, with several carriers attempting to redirect to alternate ports. alternate ports of cape town, port elizabeth and ngqura handle significantly lower volumes and will likely suffer congestion as more ships are being redirected. (freightwaves) several factors have contributed to a high spot truck rate: clean energy initiatives, increased diesel prices, increased salaries to attract truck drivers, maintenance and repair, and new purchase orders. in addition to the above, many carriers signed contracts in the first quarter at high rates to guarantee capacity. however, many experts state that we are at a peak and will see a trucking capacity glut in the second half of 2022. torrential downpour in kzn province triggered massive flooding and mudslides that have disrupted services at south africa’s largest port, durban. several areas reported as much as 13 inches of rain in less than 24 hours, resulting in a devastating loss of life and wiping out critical infrastructure. with many cities in china experiencing the most extensive lockdowns since the initial outbreak in early 2020, carriers are shifting strategies to keep on schedule. the ripple effect of the lockdowns is being felt throughout the world: barge transportation on the rhine river is critical to europe’s supply chain, linking german and swiss industry with rotterdam. without significant spring rainfall, water levels may drop dramatically in late summer, causing a repeat of the crisis of 2018. read more what you need to know: read more congestion at the ports is severe, covid outbreaks are causing labor shortages, equipment shortages continue, and vessel delays are reaching all time highs. here is an overview of the factors affecting the industry. but with close to record volume on asia to north america trade lanes, congestion at the ports is increasing. many others are quarantining due to exposure. others are concerned about their health and not showing up for their shifts. our teams of experts are in contact with carriers daily, and can help you navigate the changing conditions. planning ahead, booking early, and working closely with your utc representative will help you secure the most efficient options. we value the trust you have placed in us, and thank you for your business. read more email address * 2 northpoint drive, suite 200 houston, tx 77060 +1.713.869.9939

recent and archived work by alyssa schukar for the new york times congestion has increased on other routes in the city and residents are worried that traffic will get worse as the port returns to more normal operations. by peter eavis and alyssa schukar the incessant pop pop pop of the fast growing sport has brought on a nationwide scourge of unneighborly clashes, petitions, calls to the police and lawsuits, with no solution in sight. by andrew keh and alyssa schukar plans that would bury carbon underground rather than release it in the air have stoked debate over climate and property rights, creating unlikely alliances and stirring memories of fierce battles over oil. by mitch smith and alyssa schukar with billions of dollars available to improve transportation infrastructure, states have a chance to try new strategies for addressing congestion. but some habits are hard to break. by eden weingart and alyssa schukar in 2005, the journalist alyssa schukar began photographing the life of elsie eiler, the sole resident of monowi, neb. by alyssa schukar elsie eiler operates the only remaining business in her tiny nebraska town. what will happen once she’s gone? photographs and text by alyssa schukar in nebraska, a 151 year old family farm struggles to survive. by alyssa schukar new york times photographers around the united states spent the past six months documenting the coronavirus economy. as its path veered, so did our sense of where the finish line was. by patricia cohen, philip cheung, ruth fremson, todd heisler, sebastían hidalgo, alyssa schukar, lynsey weatherspoon and jim wilson a year of pandemic restrictions has meant some friends are flush and others foundering. by nelson d. schwartz and alyssa schukar by alyssa schukar the coronavirus has added strain to wisconsin voters already facing challenges to ballot access. by alyssa schukar this was featured in live coverage. by alyssa schukar this was featured in live coverage. by alyssa schukar as the primary in michigan looms, a return to bay county finds residents wrestling to make ends meet. many plant jobs are gone. getting by can be a juggling act. by rebecca blumenstein and alyssa schukar in a crowded and sometimes chaotic primary, five candidates have defined the contours of the race so far. this is what the democratic presidential campaign looked like on the ground in 2019. text by isabella grullón paz nearly 27,000 children in ohio were removed from their homes last year, many because of the opioid crisis. more than a quarter were placed in the care of relatives. by dan levin and alyssa schukar eight miles of original fencing are going up in the rio grande valley, the first new wall to be built under president trump. the administration wants 500 total miles constructed by 2021. by manny fernandez, mitchell ferman and alyssa schukar after seizing control of the market, new yorkers used tactics that helped leave the taxi industry in tatters and hundreds of immigrant drivers on the edge of ruin. by brian m. rosenthal and alyssa schukar most residents in eastern north carolina, where people rattle off the names of storms like old enemies, were spared the worst from dorian. but they haven’t all recovered from last year’s flooding. by jack healy and nicholas bogel burroughs to even see where seth moulton ranks in the race, you have to click “expand” on most polls. but that isn’t stopping him from campaigning. we followed him for a day in iowa this month. photographs and text by alyssa schukar

final report congestion is relatively easy to recognize roads filled with cars, trucks, and buses, sidewalks filled with pedestrians. the definitions of the term congestion mention such words as "clog," "impede," and "excessive fullness." for anyone who has ever sat in congested traffic, those words should sound familiar. in the transportation realm, congestion usually relates to an excess of vehicles on a portion of roadway at a particular time resulting in speeds that are slower sometimes much slower than normal or "free flow" speeds. congestion often means stopped or stop and go traffic. the rest of this chapter is devoted to describing congestion and how we measure it, as well as its causes and consequences. previous work has shown that congestion is the result of seven root causes, often interacting with one another.5 these "seven sources" can be grouped into three broad categories, as shown below: highlight box 1 discusses how the seven sources of congestion are related to the underlying traffic flow characteristics that create a disruption in traffic. we typically think of a bottleneck as a physical restriction on capacity (category 3 above). however, disorderly vehicle maneuvers caused by events have a similar effect on traffic flow as restricted physical capacity. because the traffic flow effects are similar, traffic disruptions of all types can be thought of as producing losses in highway capacity, at least temporarily. in the past, the primary focus of congestion responses was oriented to adding more physical capacity: changing highway alignment, adding more lanes (including turning lanes at signals), and improving merging and weaving areas at interchanges. but addressing the "temporary losses in capacity" from other sources is equally important. highlight box 1   what causes breakdowns in traffic flow? what causes traffic flow to break down to stop and go conditions? the layman's definition of congestion as "too many cars trying to use a highway at the same time" is essentially correct. transportation engineers formalize this idea as capacity the ability to move vehicles past a point over a given span of time. when the capacity of a highway section is exceeded, traffic flow breaks down, speeds drop, and vehicles crowd together. these actions cause traffic to back up behind the disruption. so, what situations would cause the overload that leads to traffic backups? basically, there are three types of traffic flow behavior that will cause traffic flow to break down: influencing all of these disruptions in traffic flow is the level of traffic that attempts to use the roadway. high demand for highway use such as that caused by special events can compound the problems caused by disruptions to traffic flow. congestion results from one or the interaction of several of the seven sources on the highway system. the interaction can be complex and varies greatly from day to day and highway to highway. the problem is that with the exception of the physical bottlenecks, the sources of congestion occur with maddening irregularity nothing is ever the same from one day to the next! one day commuters might face low traffic volumes, no traffic incidents, and good weather; the next day traffic might be heavier than normal, it might be raining, and a severe crash may occur that blocks traffic lanes. an analysis of how the combination of these events conspires to make congestion was done in washington, d.c. (table 2.1). the worst traffic days experienced in washington can be explained by the occurrence and combination of different events. another example of the irregularity in event occurrence can be seen in the frequency and duration of traffic incidents. figure 2.1 shows how traffic incidents occurred on a 14 mile stretch of interstate 405 in seattle, washington during peak travel periods for the first four months of 2003. some days are relatively incident free while others have numerous traffic incidents. interestingly, at least one traffic incident occurred every day during the peaks on this highway. so, while some days are better than others, traffic incidents are an unavoidable fact on crowded urban freeways. another source of variability is traffic demand, which is rarely the same from day to day. on routes heavily used for commuting, weekday traffic is typically much higher than weekend traffic. (on routes in recreational, tourist, or shopping dominated areas, weekend traffic higher.) figure 2.2 shows this variability in dramatic fashion for detroit freeways. it also shows that there is some variability on weekdays: thursdays and fridays are typically the highest traffic days for this period. the congestion and travel time variability caused by planned special events are becoming a major concern for transportation agencies. in a recent survey of state departments of transportation (dots) by the american association of state highway and transportation officials and the american highway users alliance, special events were cited as significant contributors to noncommuter congestion. these events may be categorized as: table 2.1 factors contributing to extreme congestion ten worst days of washington, d.c. traffic source: vasudevan, meenakshy; wunderlich, karl e., shah, vaisshali; and larkin, james, effectiveness of advanced traveler information systems (atis) under extreme congestion: findings from a washington, d.c., case study, proceedings of its america, 2004. the events that impede traffic flow and cause travel to be unreliable often occur in combination. this diagram shows the number of days when different combinations of events occurred during the study period. for example, there were three days when incidents occurred on two of these days only incidents occurred and on one day, incidents occurred in combination with high demand and bad weather. as most commuters know, "some days are worse than others." pile high demand (say, a friday before a three day weekend) on top of heavy rain and a lane blocking crash, and you've got the ingredients for severe congestion. figure 2.1 the number and duration of incidents varies greatly from day to day i 405 southbound, seattle, washington note: data shown are for the morning and afternoon peak periods (7:00 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 7:00 p.m.) for the period from january 1, 2003 to april 30, 2003. traffic incidents occur in a fairly erratic pattern from day to day. also, how long they last and how many lanes they block are fairly unpredictable. this erratic behavior contributes significantly to making travel unreliable for travelers. figure 2.2 traffic levels vary substantially over the course of a week detroit freeways, 3/11/2001   4/7/2001 note: vmt (or "vehicle miles of travel") is a common measure of highway usage. it is calculated as the number of vehicles using the system times the distance they travel. for the time period displayed, sundays are the low points on the graph. weekday travel can be more than 60 percent higher than sunday travel. on weekdays, the trend toward highway travel later in the week (thursdays and fridays) is common in most urban areas. while commuting trips are relatively stable throughout the week, discretionary trips are higher as the weekend approaches. as if the congestion picture was not complicated enough, consider further that some events can cause others to occur. for example: all of this suggests the rather complex model of congestion shown in figures 2.3a and 2.3b. from a practical standpoint, what is important to take away from this model are two notions: 1) the sources of congestion can be tightly interconnected, and 2) because of the interconnectedness, significant payoffs can be expected by treating the sources. that is, by treating one source, you can reduce the impact of that source on congestion plus have a partial impact on others. the exact causal relationships among the sources of congestion are not yet well known, but consider the data shown in figure 2.4. displayed in this figure is the relationship between delay (both bottleneck  and incident related) and traffic intensity. several observations can be made from these data: figure 2.3 anatomy of congestion figure 2.3a part 1   traffic volumes interact with physical capacity to produce "base delay" = source of congestion note: the starting point for congestion on most days is the amount of traffic and the physical restrictions on the highway (bottlenecks). traffic varies from day to day throughout the year and special events may cause surges in traffic at unexpected times. see figure 2.2 as an example of how much traffic varies even over as short a period as a month. figure 2.3 anatomy of congestion (continued) figure 2.3b part 2   roadway events reduce available capacity and add extra delay to the system = source of congestion note: just as traffic varies across time periods, so does physical capacity. the operation of traffic signals changes capacity, often minute to minute. when roadway events occur, they also cause the physical capacity of the roadway to be lowered. (traffic incidents and work zones can "steal" lanes, and bad weather causes drivers to space themselves out more.) base level congestion caused by bottlenecks can lead to increased traffic incidents due to tighter vehicle spacing and vehicles overheating in summer. finally, the existence of extreme congestion can cause some drivers to change their routes or to forego trips altogether. understanding how all these factors interact is the subject of ongoing research. figure 2.4 relationship of incident and bottleneck delay to traffic intensity note: the aadt/c level is a general indicator of the "intensity" of traffic trying to use a highway with fixed capacity. aadt is annual average daily traffic (vehicles per day) and c is the two way capacity of the roadway (vehicles per hour). bottleneck and traffic incident delay occur differently: bottlenecks cause delay at specific points while traffic incidents may occur anywhere along a highway segment. this is the reason for using 5  and 10 mile segments for the traffic incident delay above. the analysis shows that as traffic grows on a roadway with fixed capacity, traffic incident delay is initially higher than bottleneck delay. as traffic grows, bottleneck delay overtakes traffic incident delay, because it happens fairly regularly while traffic incidents vary in occurrence and characteristics. this analysis also shows the interrelationship between the sources of delay identified in figures 2.3a and 2.3b. even with no changes in traffic incident characteristics, traffic incident delay grows as more traffic is added to a roadway. in other words, as the traffic level grows on a base of fixed capacity, the roadway is more vulnerable to disruptions caused by traffic incidents, or any other traffic influencing event for that matter. the exponential growth in bottleneck delay after the onset of congestion is a major reason why it is so difficult for agencies to keep up with congestion: once it starts, things get bad quickly. introducing an extra vehicle to congested conditions means not only does that vehicle get delayed, it also adds extra delay to any other vehicles that join after it. the fact that both bottleneck  and incident related delay increase with base congestion level indicates that if physical capacity is increased, congestion for both sources would be decreased. in other words, facilities with greater base capacity are less vulnerable to disruptions: a traffic incident that blocks a single lane has a greater impact on a highway with two travel lanes than a highway with three travel lanes. this feature highlights the interdependence of the sources mentioned above. it also reinforces the notion that adding physical capacity is a viable option for improving congestion, especially when made in conjunction with other strategies. what is travel time reliability? by its very nature, roadway performance is at the same time consistent and repetitive, and yet highly variable and unpredictable. it is consistent and repetitive in that peak usage periods occur regularly and can be predicted with a high degree of reliability. (the relative size and timing of "rush hour" is well known in most communities.) at the same time, it is highly variable and unpredictable, in that on any given day, unusual circumstances such as crashes can dramatically change the performance of the roadway, affecting both travel speeds and throughput volumes. the traveling public experiences these large performance swings, and their expectation or fear of unreliable traffic conditions affects both their view of roadway performance, and how and when they choose to travel. for example, if a road is known to have highly variable traffic conditions, a traveler using that road to catch an airplane routinely leaves lots of "extra" time to get to the airport. in other words, the "reliability" of this traveler's trip is directly related to the variability in the performance of the route she or he takes. it is becoming clear that we can no longer just define congestion in terms of "average" or "typical" conditions. one of the reasons was identified in figure 2.4 as the traffic on a fixed capacity roadway, a highway becomes more susceptible to delay from traffic incidents, and in fact, to all traffic influencing events. because reliability indicates how much events influence traffic conditions, it is particularly important when it comes to defining operations strategies, which aim to control the effect of these events. highlight box 2   measuring reliability because reliability is defined by how travel times vary over time, it is useful to develop frequency distributions to see how much variability exists. calculating the average travel time and the size of the "buffer" the extra time needed by travelers to ensure a high rate of on time arrival then helps us to develop a variety of reliability measures. these measures include the buffer index, the planning time, and the planning time index (see figure 2.5). they are all based on the same underlying distribution of travel times, but describe reliability in slightly different ways: figure 2.5 distribution of travel times, state route 520 seattle, eastbound, 4:00 7:00 p.m. weekdays (11.5 miles long) with this discussion in mind, from a practical standpoint, travel time reliability can be defined in terms of how travel times vary over time (e.g., hour to hour, day to day). commuters who take congested highways to and from work are well aware of this. when asked about their commutes, they will say things like: "it takes me 45 minutes on a good day, but an hour and 15 minutes on a bad day." figure 2.6 typifies this experience with data from state route (sr) 520, a major commuter route, in seattle, washington. if there was no congestion on this 11.5 mile segment, travel times would be around 11 1/2 minutes; on president's day this was the case. on other days, the average travel time was 17.5 minutes, or an average speed of 40 mph. but when events (traffic incidents and weather) are present, it could take nearly 25 minutes, or 37 percent longer. commuters who take sr 520 corridor must plan for this unpredictable variability if they want to arrive on time the average just will not do. figure 2.6 weekday travel times 5:00 6:00 p.m., on state route 520 eastbound, seattle, washington in other words, they have to build in a buffer to their trip planning to account for the variability. if they build in a buffer, they will arrive early on some days, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but the extra time is still carved out of their day. and this is time they could be using for other pursuits besides commuting. what value does providing reliable travel times have? improving the reliability of travel times is significant for a number of reasons: despite our simple definition of travel time reliability as the variation in travel times over history, different perspectives exist: as we have already seen, some days are better (or worse) than others in terms of congestion, and there is quite a bit of variation from average or typical conditions on any given day. figure 2.7 displays this variation from the traveler and operator points of view. shown are travel times in the heavily congested i 75 corridor in central atlanta for all thursdays in 2003. the average and 95th percentile travel times are shown along with the actual travel times from two specific thursdays. january 16 was clearly a "bad" day in this corridor while september 4 was "better than average." for both travelers and operators, a constantly updated display of travel conditions compared to baselines would be valuable information to have. in fact, at least one traffic management center (houston transtar) posts this sort of information on their web site in real time.9 it should be noted that currently we do not have the ability to predict what is going to happen a difficult task given the uncertainty of unpredictable events like incidents or sudden, intense weather. we can only compare what is happening now to historical conditions, but research is currently underway on this topic. still, the ability to predict with some certainty what travel time will be in the near future is of great interest to operators and travelers. why is this important? if a commuter has a routine activity that must occur every day such as picking up children from day care they must plan on an extra amount of trip time just to be sure they do not arrive late. the same goes for local trucking firms engaged in pickup and delivery of goods. looking again at the data in figure 2.7, if a traveler starts in the corridor at 5:30 p.m., on the average thursday the trip will take about 12 minutes. but history has shown that to be safe, they have to plan for about 18 minutes (50 percent more) to have only a small chance of arriving late; they have to build in a buffer. these are not huge numbers but this is a short corridor (4 miles). the difference is, however, a large percentage. if similar conditions exist over the rest of the commute, then the extra time starts to add up quickly. with this simple approach, an extreme event can cause great problems for an individual trip, but at least we can compute a reasonable probability of arriving on time. figure 2.7 is it a good day or bad day for commuting: comparing current travel times to historical conditions i 75 southbound central atlanta, thursdays, 2003 note: comparing what is happening on the highway system right now to "typical" (average) and "extreme" (95th percentile) conditions provides both operators and travelers with information that can lead to actions. for example, the afternoon of september 4, travelers could see that congestion was lighter than usual and could schedule additional activities. january 16 on the other hand was a heavy congestion day and as it unfolded, operators could post diversion messages to try to control it. planners are most interested in how things change over a longer period of time, though the question of "are things getting better or worse" is of general interest as well. in the i 75 corridor in central atlanta, travel times in the afternoon peak period have increased and reliability has decreased between 2001 and 2003 (figure 2.8). monitoring of performance trends like this is becoming more common at transportation agencies. as discussed in the next section, performance monitoring is a major emphasis in operations and planning. figure 2.8 congestion and unreliable travel have increased on i 75 southbound in central atlanta, georgia thursdays, 2001 and 2003 note: by comparing the average travel times in 2001 and 2003 (the blue lines)), it can be seen that average congestion levels have increased in this corridor. at the same time, travel time reliability has decreased, as shown by the increase in the 95th percentile travel times. monitoring congestion is just one of the several aspects of transportation system performance that leads to more effective investment decisions for transportation improvements. safety, physical condition, environmental quality, economic development, quality of life, and customer satisfaction are among the aspects of performance that also require monitoring.10 congestion is intertwined with all of these other categories since higher congestion levels have been associated with their degradation. in addition to facilitating better investments, improved monitoring of congestion can lead to several positive outcomes: the performance of the highway system in terms of how efficiently users can traverse it may be described in three basic terms: congestion, mobility, and accessibility. while researchers have different definitions of these terms, we have found it useful to define them as follows: congestion and mobility are very closely related and the same metrics and concepts can be used to monitor both. accessibility is a relatively new concept and requires a different set of metrics. most the data that are currently available describe facility performance, not trip performance, although new technologies are emerging that will allow for direct monitoring of entire trips. one of the principles that fhwa has established for monitoring congestion as part of its annual performance plan is that meaningful congestion performance measures must be based on the measurement of travel time. travel times are easily understood by practitioners and the public, and are applicable to both the user and facility perspectives of performance. temporal aspects of congestion: measuring congestion by times of the day and day of week has a long history in transportation. a relatively new twist on this is the definition of a weekday "peak period" multiple hours rather than the traditional peak hour. in many metropolitan areas, particularly the larger ones, congestion now lasts three or more hours each weekday morning and evening. in other words, over time, congestion has spread into more hours of the day as commuters leave earlier or later to avoid the traditional rush hour. definition of peak periods is critical in performing comparisons. for example, consider a three hour peak period. in smaller cities, congestion may usually only last for one hour better conditions in the remaining two hours will "dilute" the metrics. one way around this is not to establish a fixed time period in which to measure congestion, but rather determine how long congestion exists (e.g., percent of time where operating conditions are below a threshold.) spatial aspects of congestion: congestion spreads not only in time but in space as well. queues from physical bottlenecks and major traffic influencing events (like traffic incidents) can extend for many miles. congestion measures need to be sensitive to this by tracking congestion over facilities or corridors, rather than just short highway segments. table 2.2 presents a small sample of congestion performance measures (metrics) that can be used by agencies to monitor trends. for a specific road section and time period: buffer index (%) = figure 2.9 shows how travel times can be developed from data, analytic methods, or a combination. clearly, the best methods are based on direct measurement of travel times, either through probe vehicles or the more traditional "floating car" method, in which data collectors drive specific routes. however, both of these have drawbacks: probe vehicles currently are not widely deployed and the floating car method suffers from extremely small samples because it is expensive and time consuming. further, since many performance measures require traffic volumes as well, additional collection effort is required to develop the full suite of performance measures. use of its roadway equipment addresses these issues, but this equipment does not measure travel time directly; its spot speeds must be converted to travel times first. (the appendix provides a description of the equipment used to collect these data.) other indirect methods of travel time estimation use traffic volumes as a basis, either those that are directly measured or developed with travel demand forecasting models. two examples of how fhwa is developing travel times with these methods follow. figure 2.9 measuring travel time is the basis for congestion measures since 2000, fhwa has been assembling volume and speed data from urban traffic management centers. these data are primarily from its roadway equipment, although some cities are exploring the use of probe vehicles to capture travel time. data from 29 cities are currently obtained annually from participating traffic management centers. some of these cities are now providing data on a monthly basis, and these monthly data are used to track citywide trends month by month. figure 2.10 shows an example of how these data are presented. as more cities participate and as surveillance coverage increases in existing cities these data will provide a way for fhwa to monitor monthly changes in congestion. (section 3.0 presents additional analysis of the data used in this program.) figure 2.10 example of the newly designed urban congestion report used by fhwa to track monthly changes in congestion the tracking of congestion within cities is dependent on having an intensive system of surveillance to collect vehicle speeds (through roadway detectors) or travel times (using toll tagged probe vehicles) at closely spaced points on the roadway. outside of major metropolitan areas, such surveillance does not exist. to complement urban congestion measures and get a better picture of total system performance, fhwa is developing a system to monitor truck travel on intercity corridors that have significant freight volumes. fhwa is partnering with the american transportation research institute and the trucking industry to use existing satellite based systems that track truck movement for freight and fleet management purposes to support transport system performance measurement. additionally, fhwa is exploring using similar methods to measure delay at major international border crossings. figure 2.11 shows an example of how this system has been applied to develop travel times on 10 mile stretches of interstate 5. figure 2.11 interstate 5 average travel rate for trucks: 10 mile segments april june 2004, 3:00 7:00 p.m. the nation's local, regional, and national transportation systems play a vital role in creating access to goods and services which sustain and grow our nation's economy. planners and economic development experts recognize that congestion is an economic development issue because it thwarts business attraction and expansion, and reduces the quality of life for residents. transportation system users have developed strategies to deal with increased congestion and reduced reliability. in the short term, we might change our mode or time of travel. over the longer run, congestion might influence our decisions about where we live and work. the same holds true for businesses. these types of adjustments might reduce the impacts of congestion to us, but they still do not entirely eliminate the economic consequences for a region. trucking impacts. congestion means longer travel times and less reliable pick up and delivery times for truck operators. to compensate, motor carriers typically add vehicles and drivers and extend their hours of operation, eventually passing the extra costs along to shippers and consumers. research on the trucking industry has shown that shippers and carriers value transit time in the range of $25 to $200 per hour, depending on the product being carried. the cost of unexpected delay can add another 20 percent to 250 percent.11 impacts on businesses. congestion increases the costs of delivering goods and services, because of the increased travel times and operating costs incurred on the transportation system. less obviously, there may be are other costs, such as: the business value of time delay and market access act together to affect the profitability and revenue potential associated with doing business in a state or region. when one area is affected by congestion more than others, the relative competitiveness of these areas also shifts. the result, then, is that businesses tend to stagnate or move out of areas with high operating costs and limited markets, while they locate and expand in areas with lower operating costs and broader market connections. the magnitude of these changes varies by industry, based on how strongly the industry's total operating cost is affected by transportation factors. the evidence seems to indicate that regional economies that are fostered by clusters or "agglomerations" of many interrelated firms are better positioned to counter the higher operating costs due to congestion than economies that are not. household impacts. households have both financial budgets and what is termed "time budgets" that are both impacted by congestion. households plan their activities around the available time budget as well as around their financial budgets. as vehicle operating and maintenance costs increase with rising congestion, the budget for some types of activities or expenditures decreases. the perceived "quality of life" of a neighborhood is diminished as well, when the safety, reliability and the convenience of the transportation system decreases. regional impacts. regional economies are affected by these household and business specific impacts. diminished cost competitiveness and market growth opportunities are tantamount to a reduced ability to retain, grow, and attract businesses. additionally, the redistribution of business and household activity to outlying areas and the direct delay for trips that are not diverted or otherwise changed both lead to decreases in air quality, increases in public infrastructure investment requirements, and potential impacts on health and quality of life factors.12 back to top previous | table of contents | next us dot home | fhwa home | operations home | privacy policy united states department of transportation   federal highway administration

the geography of transport systems the spatial organization of transportation and mobility the most important transport challenges occur when urban transport systems cannot adequately satisfy the requirements of urban mobility. chapter contents cities are locations having a high level of accumulation and concentration of economic activities. they are complex spatial structures supported by infrastructures, including transport systems. the larger a city, the greater its complexity and the potential for disruptions, particularly when this complexity is not effectively managed. urban productivity is highly dependent on the efficiency of its transport system to move labor, consumers, and freight between multiple origins and destinations. additionally, transport terminals such as ports, airports, and railyards are located within urban areas, helping anchor a city within a regional and global mobility system. still, transportation infrastructure and terminals also contribute to a specific array of challenges. some challenges are ancient, like congestion (which plagued cities such as rome), while others are new, like urban freight distribution or environmental impacts. congestion is one of the most prevalent transport challenges in large urban agglomerations. although congestion can occur in all cities, it is particularly prevalent in those above a threshold of about 1 million inhabitants. these structures are large and complex enough to create conditions that generate a systematic congestion level. further to size and complexity, congestion is particularly linked with motorization and the diffusion of the automobile, which has increased the demand for transport infrastructures. however, the infrastructure supply has often not been able to keep up with the pace of mobility growth. since vehicles spend most of their time parked, motorization has expanded the demand for road infrastructure and parking space. in turn, this created footprint problems, particularly in central areas where the footprint of parked vehicles is significant and consumes scarce resources. by the 21st century, drivers are three times more likely to be affected by congestion than in the latter part of the 20th century. congestion and parking are also interrelated since street parking consumes transport capacity, removing one or two lanes for circulation along urban roads. further, looking for a parking space (called “cruising”) creates additional delays and impairs local circulation. in central areas of large cities, cruising may account for more than 10% of the local circulation, as drivers can spend up to 20 minutes looking for a parking spot. this practice is often judged more economically effective than paying for off street parking facilities. the time spent looking for a free (or low cost) parking space is compensated by the incurred monetary savings. parking also impairs deliveries as many delivery vehicles will double park at the closest possible spot to unload their cargo. identifying the true cause of congestion is a strategic issue for urban planning since congestion is commonly the outcome of circumstances specific to a city, such as the lack of parking or poorly synchronized traffic signals. on par with congestion, people spend an increasing amount of time commuting between their residences and workplaces. residential affordability is an important factor behind this trend, as housing located further away from central areas (where most of the employment remains) is more affordable. therefore, commuters are exchanging commuting time for housing affordability. however, long commuting is linked with several social problems, such as isolation (less time spent with family or friends), as well as poorer health (obesity). time spent during commuting is at the expense of other economic and social activities. however, information technologies such as smartphones have allowed commuters to perform a variety of tasks while traveling. many public transit systems, or segments of them, are either over or underused since the demand for public transit is subject to periods of peaks and troughs. during peak hours, crowdedness creates discomfort for users as the system copes with a temporary surge in demand. this creates the challenge of the provision of an adequate level of transit infrastructure and service levels. planning for peak capacity leaves the system under used during off peak hours, while planning for an average capacity will lead to congestion during peak hours. low ridership makes many services financially unsustainable, particularly in suburban areas where density is not high enough to justify such services. despite significant subsidies and cross financing (e.g. tolls), almost every public transit system cannot generate sufficient income to cover operating and capital costs. while deficits were deemed acceptable in the past because of the essential service public transit provided for urban mobility, its financial burden is increasingly controversial. these difficulties are either the outcome of heavy traffic, where the mobility of pedestrians, bicycles, and other non motorized vehicles is impaired, but also because of a blatant lack of consideration for pedestrians and micromobility in the physical design of infrastructures and facilities. on the opposite side, the setting of bicycle paths takes capacity away from roadways as well as parking space. a negative outcome would be allocating more space for non motorized transport than the actual mobility demand, exacerbating congestion. most roads are publicly owned and free of access. increased traffic adversely impacts public activities, which once crowded the streets, such as markets, agoras, parades and processions, games, and community interactions. these have gradually disappeared to be replaced by automobiles. in many cases, these activities have shifted to shopping malls; in other cases, they have been abandoned altogether. traffic flows influence the life and interactions of residents and their usage of street space. more traffic impedes social interactions and street activities. people tend to walk and cycle less when traffic is high. cities facing the aging of their transport systems have to assume growing maintenance costs as well as pressures to upgrade to more modern infrastructure. in addition to the involved costs, maintenance and repair activities create circulation disruptions. delayed maintenance is rather common since it conveys the benefit of keeping current costs low, but at the expense of higher future costs and, on some occasions, the risk of infrastructure failure. the more extensive the road and highway network, the higher the maintenance cost and financial burden. the same applies to public transit infrastructure that requires a system wide maintenance strategy. pollution, including noise generated by circulation, has become an impediment to the quality of life and even the health of urban populations. further, energy consumption by urban transportation has dramatically increased, as has the dependency on petroleum. these considerations are increasingly linked with peak mobility expectations where high energy prices incite a shift towards more efficient and sustainable forms of urban transportation, namely public transit. there are pressures to decarbonize urban transport systems, particularly with the diffusion of alternative energy sources such as electric vehicles. the growth in the intensity of circulation in urban areas is linked to a growing number of accidents and fatalities, especially in developing economies. accidents account for a significant share of recurring delays from congestion. as traffic increases, people feel less safe using the streets. the diffusion of information technologies leads to paradoxical outcomes. while users can access reliable location and navigation information, portable devices create distractions linked with a rise in accidents for drivers and pedestrians alike. the footprint of transportation is significant, particularly for the automobile. between 30 and 60% of a metropolitan area may be devoted to transportation, an outcome of the over reliance on infrastructures supporting road transportation. yet, this footprint also underlines the strategic importance of transportation in the economic and social welfare of cities, as mobility is a sign of efficiency and prosperity. globalization and increases in living standards have resulted in growing quantities of freight moving within cities. as freight traffic commonly shares infrastructures supporting the circulation of passengers, the mobility of freight in urban areas has become increasingly controversial. the growth of e commerce and home deliveries has created additional pressures on the urban mobility of freight. city logistics strategies can be established to mitigate the variety of challenges faced by urban freight distribution, namely delivery hours and parking. many dimensions of the urban transport challenge are linked to the dominance of the automobile. automobile use is related to a variety of advantages, such as on demand mobility, comfort, status, speed, and convenience. these advantages jointly illustrate why automobile ownership continues to grow worldwide, especially in urban areas and developing economies. when given a choice and the opportunity, most individuals will prefer using an automobile. several factors influence the growth of the total vehicle fleet, such as sustained economic growth (increase in income and quality of life), complex individual urban movement patterns (many households have more than one automobile), more leisure time, and suburbanization (areas where mobility options are limited). therefore, rising automobile mobility can be perceived as a positive consequence of economic development. the automotive sector, particularly car manufacturing, is a factor of economic growth, multiplying effects, and job creation, which can be actively promoted. the growth in the total number of vehicles also gives rise to congestion at peak traffic hours on major thoroughfares, in business districts, and often throughout the metropolitan area. cities are important generators and attractors of mobility, which is associated with a set of geographical paradoxes that are self reinforcing. for instance, economic specialization leads to additional transport demands, while agglomeration leads to congestion. over time, automobile dependency emerged, which resulted in a declining role of other modes, thereby limiting alternatives to urban mobility through path dependency. future development options are locked in because of past choices, and a city can become locked into planning decisions that reinforce automobile use. in addition to the factors contributing to the growth of driving, two major factors contributing to automobile dependency are: there are several levels of automobile dependency, ranging from low to acute, with their corresponding land use patterns and alternatives to mobility. among the most relevant automobile dependency indicators are the level of vehicle ownership, per capita motor vehicle mileage, and the proportion of total commuting trips made using an automobile. a situation of high automobile dependency is reached when more than three quarters of commuting trips are done using the automobile. this proportion has remained around 88% in the united states over recent decades. automobile dependency is also served by a cultural and commercial system promoting the automobile as a symbol of status and personal freedom through intense advertising and enticements to purchase new vehicles. not surprisingly, many developing economies perceive motorization as a condition, even an indicator, of development. even if the term automobile dependency is often negatively perceived and favored by market distortions such as the provision of roads, its outcome reflects the choice of individuals who see the automobile more as an advantage than an inconvenience. this can lead to a paradoxical situation where planners try to counterbalance the preference for automobile ownership supported by the bulk of the population. the perception of automobile dependency changed over time. the second half of the 20th century saw the adaptation of many cities to support automobile circulation. motorized transportation was seen as a symbol of modernity and development. highways and parking lots were constructed, and streets were enlarged, often disrupting the existing urban environment by creating motorized cities. automobile ownership levels increased rapidly. however, from the 1980s, motorization started to be seen more negatively, and cities implemented policies to limit automobile circulation, at least in specific areas, by a set of strategies including: tentative solutions have been put forth, such as transport planning measures (synchronized traffic lights, regulated parking), limited vehicle traffic in selected areas, the promotion of bicycle paths, and public transit. in mexico city, vehicle use is allowed on specific weekdays according to license plate numbers, implying that a vehicle will be prevented from circulating at least one weekday. affluent families have solved this issue by purchasing a second vehicle, thus worsening the existing situation. singapore is the only country in the world that has successfully controlled the amount and growth rate of its vehicle fleet by imposing a heavy tax burden and purchasing permits on automobile owners. since singapore is of small size and has an extensive public transit system, this restriction did not impair mobility. however, such a command based approach is unlikely in other contexts. there is a growing body of evidence underlining that a peak level of car mobility is unfolding, at least in developed economies. higher energy prices, congestion, fewer economic prospects, high ownership costs, and the general aging of the population are all countervailing forces to car dependency. for instance, in 2006, the number of vehicle miles traveled in the united states peaked and remained stable until growth resumed between 2016 and early 2020. the covid 19 pandemic resulted in a sharp drop, and by 2021, car travel resumed to pre pandemic levels. many alternatives to automobile dependency exist, such as intermodality (combining the advantages of individual and collective transport), carpooling, ridesharing, or micro mobility (walking and cycling). these alternatives can only be partially implemented as the automobile remains the prime choice for providing urban mobility. a significant potential change remains the development of mobile car sharing applications, enabling better utilization of vehicle assets. although this would not reduce automobile dependency, it can offer enough flexibility for some users not to require automobile ownership. congestion occurs when transport demand exceeds transport supply at a specific point in time and in a specific section of the transport system. under such circumstances, each vehicle impairs the mobility of others. congestion can be perceived as an unavoidable consequence of using scarce transport resources, particularly if they are not priced. the last decades have seen the extension of roads in urban areas, most free of access. those infrastructures were designed for speed and high capacity, but the growth of urban circulation occurred at a rate higher than often expected. road infrastructures designed to be more than adequate a couple of decades earlier were then found to run out of capacity faster than expected. investments came from diverse levels of government intending to provide accessibility to cities and regions. there were strong incentives for expanding road transportation by providing high levels of transport supply. this has created a vicious circle of congestion, which supports the construction of additional road capacity and automobile dependency. urban congestion mainly concerns two domains of circulation, often sharing the same infrastructures: still, congestion in urban areas is dominantly caused by commuting patterns and little by truck movements. on average, infrastructure provision could not keep up with the growth in the number of vehicles, even more with the total number of vehicles km. during infrastructure improvement and construction, capacity impairment (fewer available lanes, closed sections, etc.) favors congestion. significant travel delays occur when the capacity limit is reached or exceeded, which is common in almost all metropolitan areas. in the largest cities such as london, road traffic is slower than 100 years ago. marginal delays are thus increasing, and driving speed becomes problematic as the level of population density increases. once a population threshold of about 1 million is reached, cities experience recurring congestion problems. this observation must be nuanced by numerous factors related to the urban setting, modal preferences (share of public transit), and the quality of existing urban transport infrastructures. congestion is a recurrent characteristic in large cities and became more acute in the 1990s and 2000s and then leveled off in many cases. for instance, average car travel speeds have substantially declined in china. many cities experience an average driving speed of less than 20 km/hr with car density exceeding 200 cars per km of road, a figure comparable to many developed economies. another important consideration concerns parking, which consumes large amounts of space and provides a limited economic benefit if not monetized. this can be very constraining in automobile dependent cities as each facility has to provide parking space proportional to its activity level. parking has become a land use that significantly inflates the demand for urban land. urban mobility also reveals congestion patterns. daily trips can be mandatory (workplace home) or voluntary (shopping, leisure, visits). the former is often performed within fixed schedules, while the latter complies with variable and discretionary schedules. correspondingly, congestion comes in two major forms: behavioral and response time effects are also important in a system running close to capacity. for instance, braking suddenly while driving may trigger what can be known as a backward traveling wave. it implies that as vehicles are forced to stop, the bottleneck moves up the location where it initially took place, often leaving drivers puzzled about its cause. the spatial convergence of traffic causes a surcharge on transport infrastructures up to the point where congestion can lead to the total immobilization of traffic. not only does the use of the automobile impact traffic circulation and congestion, but it also leads to a decline in public transit efficiency when both share the same road infrastructures. the first assumption in mitigating congestion concerns if some trips are necessary, which is a decision left to the user. thus, outside demand control, congestion mitigation deals with a mobility level that needs to be accommodated. in some areas, the automobile is the only mode for which adequate transportation infrastructures are provided. this implies less capacity for alternative modes such as transit, walking, and micromobility. in low density areas, no public infrastructure investment can be justified in terms of economic returns. longer commuting trips in terms of average travel time, the result of fragmented land uses, and congestion levels are significant trends. a convergence of traffic is taking place at major highways serving low density areas with high levels of automobile ownership and low levels of automobile occupancy. energy (fuel) is wasted during congestion (additional time) and supplementary commuting distances. in automobile dependent cities, a few measures can help alleviate congestion to some extent: all these measures only partially address the congestion, as they alleviate but do not solve the problem. fundamentally, congestion remains a sign of economic success but a failure to reconcile rising mobility demands and acute supply constraints. as cities become more dispersed, the cost of building and operating public transportation systems increases. for instance, as of 2021, about 194 urban agglomerations had a subway system, the vast majority being in developed economies. furthermore, dispersed residential patterns characteristic of automobile dependent cities make public transportation systems less convenient for supporting urban mobility. additional investments in public transit often do not result in significant additional ridership. unplanned and uncoordinated land development has led to the rapid expansion of the urban periphery. by selecting housing in outlying areas, residents restrict their potential access to public transportation. over investment (when investments do not appear to imply significant benefits) and under investment (when there is a substantial unmet demand) in public transit are both complex challenges. urban transit is often perceived as the most efficient mode for urban areas, notably large cities. however, surveys reveal a stagnation of public transit systems, especially in north america, where ridership levels have barely changed in the last 30 years. the covid 19 pandemic made matters worst since many transit systems, as of 2022, did not recover to pre pandemic demand. the economic relevance of public transit is being questioned. despite mounting costs and heavy subsidies, most urban transit developments had little impact on alleviating congestion. this paradox is partially explained by the spatial structure of contemporary cities, which are oriented along with servicing individual mobility needs. thus, the automobile remains the preferred mode of urban transportation. besides, public transit is publicly owned, implying a politically motivated service that provides limited economic returns. even in transit oriented cities, transit systems depend massively on government subsidies. little or no competition within the public transit system is permitted as wages and fares are regulated, undermining any price adjustments to ridership changes. thus, public transit often serves the purpose of public service as it provides accessibility and social equity but with limited relationships with economic activities. among the most difficult challenges facing urban transit are: therefore, public transit systems are challenged to remain relevant to urban mobility as well as to increase their market share. the volatility in energy prices and the push toward decarbonization provide uncertainties in the costs of transit fleet ownership and operations and how effective it is to convert transit fleets to alternative energy sources such as lng and electricity. a younger generation with a preference for living in higher density areas perceives the automobile as less attractive than the prior generations. electronic fare systems are also making the utilization of public transit more convenient. a recent trend concerns the usage of incentives, such as point systems (e.g. air miles with the purchase of a monthly pass), to promote public transit and influence consumer behavior. yet, evidence underlines that the inflation adjusted cost of using public transit is increasing, implying that the cost advantage of public transit over the automobile is not changing significantly. if self driving vehicles become widely available before the end of the 2020s, many highly subsidized transit systems may have a limited competitive advantage. under such circumstances, the fate of many surface public transit systems will be questioned, particularly in suburban areas. the geography of transport systemssixth edition jean paul rodrigue (2024), new york: routledge, 402 pages. isbn 9781032380407 follow @ecojpr
supported by many commuters continue to oppose the new tolling program in new york city even as some drivers and bus riders are spending less time trapped in traffic. by winnie hu, ana ley and nate schweber train service had been snarled between new haven, conn., and washington because of a fire in the bronx and fallen wires in philadelphia. by john yoon and alyce mcfadden traffic jams and train delays happen, but they don’t have to ruin your trip. by jancee dunn in a mostly car dependent country where public transportation in major cities can be best described as “decent,” the expansion felt momentous. by yan zhuang brian niccol, the incoming head of starbucks, has a c suite perk that has raised eyebrows in post pandemic office culture: an interstate commute on a plane. by ali watkins organizers of a plan to adorn some trains with googly eyes said that if the trains could not be reliable, they could at least make commuters smile. by orlando mayorquín rush hour commuters at penn station faced a shutdown of close to an hour, followed by extensive delays, after amtrak investigated a report of a problem with overhead wires. by shayla colon and hank sanders standup scooters, electric unicycles, homemade contraptions of all sorts. new yorkers have plenty of ways to get around. by christopher maag congestion has increased on other routes in the city and residents are worried that traffic will get worse as the port returns to more normal operations. by peter eavis and alyssa schukar a track inspection held up travelers for more than an hour, two weeks after a suspension of service stopped all amtrak trains into new york’s penn station. by christopher maag as new york city prepares to roll out its tolling program on june 30, the divide between those who love their cars and those who embrace their subway lines has only grown. by bernard mokam people milled around in newark’s penn station and new york’s penn station after service on amtrak and new jersey transit trains between the two hubs came to a halt. by storyful and alexandra e. petri the government provided $69.5 billion in relief funds to help keep transit on track during covid 19. but many rail and bus systems are now facing layoffs and cutbacks. by colbi edmonds now more than ever, the city is being forced to rethink how its thoroughfares are used. by dodai stewart we want to know more about your neighborhood   and how you get around the city. by dodai stewart transit officials announced the start of the program, which they have said will ease some of the nation’s worst traffic. by ana ley and winnie hu a new study shows that white collar employees who can work remotely now live roughly twice as far from their offices as they did prepandemic. by emma goldberg la capital de colombia se convirtió en referente mundial en innovación y tráfico masivo barato.