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Freeway traffic congestion in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Attitudes and policy implications
Abstract
The last few years have shown an unprecedented increase in traffic congestion in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, especially on radial freeways. Unorganized distribution of land uses, inefficient traffic management, and low-cost automobile use have been major contributors to the problem. This article shows a strong awareness amongst drivers of the negative consequences of the congestion problem. Interviewees have strongly supported several land use, traffic management and transportation provision measures to alleviate freeway congestion but have strongly opposed increasing automobile travel costs. The study suggests an integrated approach to reduce the congestion problem through integrated policies for land use, economics and transportation.
... The situation is especially evident in developing countries in which the urban land area may reach 1,200,000 km 2 in 2050 [3]. Rapid urban growth has created challenges in both developing and developed countries [4]. They include water shortage [5], increasing surface runoff [6,7], minimizing global biodiversity, and vegetation carbon losses [2]. ...
... The natural environment, transportation accessibility, policy, and socioeconomic status are commonly seen as urban-growth-driving factors [43][44][45][46][47][48]. All social, economic, and physical constituents of urban growth lead to spatial-temporal changes [4,49]. For example, Shu and Zhang [50] found port-proximity-led growth or road-proximity-led growth types in three towns in China. ...
One of the primary aims of China’s territory spatial planning is to control the urban sprawl of local municipals and prevent regional competition and the negative consequences on the environment—which emphasizes the top-down spatial regulation. Indeed, the traditional cellular automaton (CA) model still has limitations when applied to the whole administration area since it may ignore the differences among cities and towns. Thus, this paper proposed a CM-CA (clustering, multi-level logit regression, integrated with cellular automaton) framework to simulate urban growth boundaries for cities and towns simultaneously. The significant novelty of this framework is to integrate several urban growth modes for all cities and towns. We applied our approach to the city of Xi’an, China, and the results showed satisfactory simulation accuracy of a CM-CA model for multiple cities and towns, and the clusters’ effects contributed 74% of the land change variance. Our study provides technical support for urban growth boundary delineation in China’s spatial planning.
... Urban growth management strategies (urban growth boundaries -UGB) have been adopted by ArRiyadh Development Authority to reduce spatial growth and foster sustainable urban development (ArRiyadh Development Authority (ADA), 2003, ArRiyadh Development Authority (ADA), 2009, UN-HABITAT, 2017). This is in congruence with the Saudi national spatial strategy of promoting a decentralized and spatially balanced urban system (Aldalbahi & Walker, 2015;Alkhedheiri, 2002). However, there are indications that the strategies have not been totally successful (Aldalbahi & Walker, 2015;Al-Hathloul & Mughal, 2004;Mubarak, 2004). ...
... This is in congruence with the Saudi national spatial strategy of promoting a decentralized and spatially balanced urban system (Aldalbahi & Walker, 2015;Alkhedheiri, 2002). However, there are indications that the strategies have not been totally successful (Aldalbahi & Walker, 2015;Al-Hathloul & Mughal, 2004;Mubarak, 2004). Urban land has extended beyond the urban growth boundaries and natural habitats and vegetation are being changed and encroached upon. ...
This paper examines the application of remote sensing, based on the Vegetation-Impervious surface-Soil (V-I-S) model and spatial metrics, in an urban analysis for promoting sustainability and understanding urban growth theory. In order to improve the accuracy of land-cover classification, spectral angle mapping (SAM), spectral mixture analysis (SMA) and band ratioing were applied on satellite images for land-cover classification and comparison of the discrimination efficiency of these techniques. For the SMA, subsets of the Landsat (2, 3, 4, 5, and 7) and ASTER (1, 2, and 3N) images were selected. After endmember extraction and purification, the Bayesian probability of each component was computed and used for spectral unmixing. The classified images of different years were compared to analyze the changes in land-use and spatial pattern using V-I-S, a form of percentage of landscape (PLAND) and annualized urban sprawl index (AUSI). The result indicates that the performance of band ratioing (69% accuracy) is not as good as that of SAM (75%) and SMA (86%) in discriminating between vegetation and agricultural land. It is concluded from the land-use analysis that the growth dynamics substantiate the urban theory of diffusion and coalescence and urban growth management strategies have not been completely successful.
... Even if a certain event never happens, the respondent would be also asked to image the feeling. The statistical results indicate that most respondents (76.2 %) feel moderately bad or extremely bad when they are delayed about 30 min because of traffic congestion, which is consistent with the previous study results of Al-Mosaind [19]. However, in Shanghai, 14.3 % of respondents indicate that they meet this kind of situation more than once a week in a typical month. ...
... Based on literature review and previous empirical studies [2,6,9,15,19,[21][22][23], the explanatory variables obtained from the survey fall into five main categories, each described as below. ...
The article intends to find a method to quantify traffic congestion’s impacts on travelers to help transportation planners and policy decision makers well understand congestion situations. Three new congestion indicators, including transportation environment satisfaction (TES), travel time satisfaction (TTS), and traffic congestion frequency and feeling (TCFF), are defined to estimate urban traffic congestion based on travelers’ feelings. Data of travelers’ attitude about congestion and trip information were collected from a survey in Shanghai, China. Based on the survey data, we estimated the value of the three indicators. Then, the principal components analysis was used to derive a small number of linear combinations of a set of variables to estimate the whole congestion status. A linear regression model was used to find out the significant variables which impact respondents’ feelings. Two ordered logit models were used to select significant variables of TES and TTS. Attitudinal factor variables were also used in these models. The results show that attitudinal factor variables and cluster category variables are as important as sociodemographic variables in the models. Using the three congestion indicators, the government can collect travelers’ feeling about traffic congestion and estimate the transportation policy that might be applied to cope with traffic congestion.
... It has been deemed prudent to analyse data collected in this city as it is located close to the town of Tabuk, whose residents shall be evaluated in the questionnaire section of this paper and as a result of their close proximity, both geographically and culturally, it is thought that their travel patterns should match closely. In the two papers under examination (Alhussein, 2011 andAl-Mosaind, 1998) there is an evaluation of different mode choices used by individuals in their journeys. However, as Alhussein's paper focuses on the modes used in arriving at the city's airport, there will be an inherent lack of authenticity for the study's results when examining daily travel patterns. ...
... It has been deemed prudent to analyse data collected in this city as it is located close to the town of Tabuk, whose residents shall be evaluated in the questionnaire section of this paper and as a result of their close proximity, both geographically and culturally, it is thought that their travel patterns should match closely. In the two papers under examination (Alhussein, 2011 andAl-Mosaind, 1998) there is an evaluation of different mode choices used by individuals in their journeys. However, as Alhussein's paper focuses on the modes used in arriving at the city's airport, there will be an inherent lack of authenticity for the study's results when examining daily travel patterns. ...
... Congestion on freeways and the resulting social and economic costs are significant problems that trouble everyday life in almost every modern society [1]. Congestion is known to reduce the nominal capacity of the freeway infrastructure with serious impacts on travel times, traffic safety, fuel consumption, and environmental pollution [2]. ...
Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, suffers from traffic congestion like other modern societies, during peak hours but also all day long, even without any incidents. To solve this horrible traffic congestion problem, various efforts have been made from the Active Traffic Management (ATM) aspect. Ramp metering (RM) is one of the representative methods of the ATM and has already proven its value in many locations worldwide. Unfortunately, RM has not yet been fully implemented in Saudi Arabia. This research aimed to assess the applicability of RM to a freeway in Riyadh using microsimulation. The widely known software VISSIM (PTV Planung Transport Verkehr AG, Germany, 1992) was chosen to compare the performances of various RM operating scenarios, such as fixedtime operation with different sub-scenarios and traffic-responsive operation using ALINEA (Asservissement Lineaire d’entree Autoroutiere) algorithm. For the simulations, this study targeted Makkah Road, one of the major freeways in Riyadh, and collected geometrical data and traffic data from that freeway. Analysis of four main scenarios and eight sub-scenarios, proved that overall performance of the fixed-time RM operation is generally good. The sub-scenario 4V3R of the fixed-time RM operation was the best in average queue length reduction. However, the traffic-responsive operation was best in average speed improvement.
... Traffic congestions, attributed largely to congested corridors, wrong parking, poorly functioning traffic signals, as well as traffic safety and behavioral problems, are more severe in city centers and at peak morning and afternoon hours. In Riyadh and in many other major cities, due to absence of a robust public transport option, the existing road networks cannot successfully absorb the very significant increases in demand solely by building new roads and the expanding capacity of the existing ones (Aldalbahi and Walker, 2015). In terms of road accidents and fatalities, the country has the highest rate in the Middle East region and has among the world's most dangerous roads. ...
This chapter highlights the challenges of rapid urbanization in Saudi Arabia and the implications of its burgeoning urban population on urban sustainability. The first section of the chapter reviews the trend of urbanization in the Third World, and Saudi Arabia in particular, and the factors responsible for rapid urban growth. The second section critically analyzes major urbanization challenges in Saudi Arabia and their impacts on the people and the environment. The final section assesses the extent to which some sustainability initiatives being implemented by the government are meeting the competing and sometimes conflicting urbanization challenges. The chapter concludes with some policy implications.
... In the literature, most case studies of urban modelling are for cities in Europe, the US or East Asia. However, cities in the Arabian Gulf countries experience rapid urban growth too, and issues related to traffic congestion (Rizzo, 2014;Aldalbahi and Walker, 2015), housing shortages (Alshalfan, 2013) and segregation by nationality between Arab citizens and foreign workers (Khalaf, 2006;Gardner et al., 2014) are becoming more dirsuptive. Traditionally urban planning is guided by conceptual approaches in Arabian Gulf countries, and lack data analysis and modelling to predict outcomes (Abu-Ayyash, 1980;Rizzo, 2014;Alghais and Pullar, 2017a). ...
The creation of new cities is a planning approach adopted in several regions around the world, in order to accommodate urban growth. New cities are typically constructed according to well-thought out, centralised plans in areas without any prior development. However, whether the development of these new cities is able to address existing urban issues more effectively than traditional methods such as intensification, is currently an unanswered research question. Several Arabian Gulf countries, such as Kuwait are considering the construction of new cities to address urban issues, specifically the traffic congestion and housing shortages. In Kuwait, the master plan for these construction projects was developed solely by state authorities without any public participation or urban modelling that may have provided a more well-rounded view of the potential impacts and effectiveness.This paper aims to address these research opportunities of investigating the effectiveness of new cities in addressing traffic congestion and housing shortage, as well as the potential to integrate public opinions in urban development in the form of a model. Towards that end, the study proposes an Agent Based Model (ABM) that will allow simulating the population distribution and urban growth impacts of new cities in Kuwait by 2050. The methodology involves collecting primary data via interviewing the key government stakeholders of urban development and surveying the residents in order to collect the model inputs. In Kuwait's society, citizens and non-citizens form two distinct resident groups with often very diverse needs and lifestyles; hence the survey responses will differentiate between them. The data from the interviews and surveys from both resident groups will be incorporated as agent behaviours in the ABM. The simulations examine a multitude of scenarios for the new cities, involving construction delays and infrastructure project delays. The results indicate that the impacts of constructing new cities will be favourable across all different scenarios in terms of alleviating the traffic congestion and housing shortage compared to a business as usual approach of existing urban centre expansion. Furthermore, the survey responses confirm that the resident perspectives closely align with the government's priorities in the master plan for the new cities, further improving the chances for the successful project implementation. The methodology and findings may be applied in cities in the Gulf area or elsewhere with similar urban issues. Keyword: Geography
... With extremely limited public transportation and very low gas prices (23), motor vehicles became the primary mode of transportation (24) and the number of cars owned and on Saudi roads has increased exponentially over the past four decades (14,19). This increase in the number of registered vehicles has led to unprecedented traffic congestion within the major cities (25). ...
Injury was the largest single cause of disability-adjusted life years and death in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 2013. The vast majority of injury-related fatalities are deaths caused by road traffic. Measures to control this serious public health issue, which has significant consequences for both Saudi families and the Saudi economy as a whole, have been underway for years but with little success. Most attempts at intervening revolve around attempts for enforcing stricter traffic laws and by installing automated traffic monitoring systems that will catch law breakers on camera and issue tickets and fines. While there has been much research on various factors that play a role in the high rate of road traffic injury in The Kingdom (e.g., driver behavior, animal collisions, disobeying traffic and pedestrian signals, environmental elements), virtually no attention has been given to examining why Saudi drivers behave the way that they do. This review provides a thorough account of the present situation in Saudi Arabia and discusses how health behavior theory can be used to gain a better understanding of driver behavior.
... Traffic congestions, attributed largely to congested corridors, wrong parking, poorly functioning traffic signals, as well as traffic safety and behavioral problems, are more severe in city centers and at peak morning and afternoon hours. In Riyadh and in many other major cities, due to absence of a robust public transport option, the existing road networks cannot successfully absorb the very significant increases in demand solely by building new roads and the expanding capacity of the existing ones (Aldalbahi and Walker, 2015). In terms of road accidents and fatalities, the country has the highest rate in the Middle East region and has among the world's most dangerous roads. ...
This chapter highlights the challenges of rapid urbanization in Saudi Arabia and the implications of its burgeoning urban population on urban sustainability. The first section of the chapter reviews the trend of urbanization in the Third World, and Saudi Arabia in particular, and the factors responsible for rapid urban growth. The second section critically analyzes major urbanization challenges in Saudi Arabia and their impacts on people and the environment. The final section assesses the extent to which some sustainability initiatives being implemented by the government are meeting the competing and sometimes conflicting urbanization challenges. The chapter concludes with some policy implications.
... Much of the research found in geographical, economic, and specialist transportation journals has endeavoured to uncover general patterns of behaviour (e.g., Al-Mosaind, 1998;Conquest, Spyridakis, Haselkorn, & Barfield, 1993;Lawson & Morris, 1999;Mierzejewski & Ball, 1990). While these studies provide valuable descriptive evidence on commuting behaviour, they usually fail to identify the psychosocial factors underlying choice. ...
... All these may significantly affect the time spent on the road and consequently the congestion cost. Al-Mosaind (1998) also listed unorganised distribution of land uses and inefficient traffic management as other important factors attributed to congestion. Congestion has been causing many critical problems and challenges in most cities of both developing and developed countries (Sheu et al., 2003;Otsubo and Rapoport, 2008) and particularly, in Lagos, Nigeria, where there seems to be an unprecedented increase in traffic congestion in the last few years. ...
This paper considers the financial implications of the traffic congestion problem in the distribution of petroleum products in a Nigerian metropolis. Data relating to truck movements, their servicing costs and other parameters that are connected with traffic congestion are collected and analysed using SPSS. The regression models that describe the differences in expenditure and variation in incomes from the use of the trucks are established. In terms of monetary losses, about 1,559.1 in deficit of the budgeted income per truck per year (deficit in income). Thus, the transportation haulage industry loses substantial money due to traffic congestion on an annual basis. Information in this work could be utilised for performance improvement purpose when performance targets/reward schemes are set and monitored for cost saving activities due to traffic congestion.
تهدف هذه الدراسة إلى تحليل أهم خصائص الحركة اليومية في مدينة الرياض مع إبراز التأثيرات السلبية للزيادة الكبيرة في حجم الحركة المرورية، خصوصاً على ضوء التوقعات المستقبلية بزيادة سنوية كبيرة في عدد السكان وعدد الرحلات مما سوف يُعرض الحركة المرورية للخطر في المستقبل إذا لم تُتخذ التدابير اللازمة تعد مدينة الرياض عاصمة المملكة العربية السعودية واحدة من أسرع العواصم العربية نمواً من الناحية العمرانية والسكانية; إذ وصل عدد سكانها إلى أربعة ملايين وخمسمائة ألف نسمة (4500000) حالياً، وما زال العدد في ازدياد سريع يُقدر بـ (8%) سنوياً، ويُتوقع أن يبلغ عدد سكان المدينة عشرة ملايين وخمسمائة ألف نسمة بحلول عام 2022م ولذلك فإن عملية الانتقال اليومي في المدينة تمثل ظاهرة ذات أبعاد معقدة جداً، بسب التطور العمراني والسكاني السريع للمدينة، وزيادة ملكية المركبات الخاصة واعتماد السكان عليها نتيجة لارتفاع مستوى الدخل وعدم وجود بدائل نقل مناسبة هذه التطورات السريعة للمدينة أدت إلى زيادة حجم الحركة المرورية اليومية بشكل كبير مما تسبب في زيادة الازدحام المروري في أوقات الذروة، وزيادة طول الرحلات وزمنها وتكاليفها، وانخفاض مستوى السلامة المرورية، وزيادة التلوث البيئي وتتبع الدراسة منهج التحليل الكمي للظاهرة عن طريق الاستعانة بمعلومات الهيئة العليا لتطوير مدينة الرياض وإحصاءاتها ودراساتها، بالإضافة إلى معلومات من الجهات الرسمية المشرفة على تطوير المدينة واختتمت الدراسة بعرض خمسة توجهات إستراتيجية مُقترحة لتحسين الحركة المرورية في مدينة الرياض المصطلحات الأساسية: مدينة الرياض، حجم الحركة المرورية، تخطيط النقل، خصائص الحركة.
Women’s choice to drive is a topic that has not attracted much interest in the academic literature, due to the fact that this is every citizens’ right around the world. Saudi Arabia was the only country left, where women were not allowed to drive. In September 2017, a royal decree was issued, which reinstated the right for women to drive (activated in June 2018). This research aims to identify the key characteristics of women that affect their choice to drive, in order to seek policy inspirations for encouraging more women to drive. To our knowledge, this is the first research, exploring such a sensitive topic. An advanced behavioural econometric model, integrated choice and latent variable (ICLV) model, is developed to take into account both directly observable and unobservable characteristics of women to yield broader insights. Specifically, two latent variables, “Current mobility satisfaction” and “Driving importance for women”, are studied, and the policy opportunities attached on them are explored. The data come from the national project SHE Drives KSA, and the sample used for analysis consists of 10,508 women from all over the Kingdom. The model estimation results show that younger and single women, those who have studied abroad and are employed, and those who live in provinces that are more affluent and have more economic opportunities are more willing to drive.
Up until 2018 Saudi Arabia was the only country in the world that bans women from motor vehicles driving. The ban was officially lifted on 25 June 2018 as a part of the Saudi Vision 2030 reform programme that was led by the new government. This study investigates the implication of women driving on the current Saudi Arabian transport system through using its capital city of Riyadh as a case study.
To answer the research question, a relevant literature about gender differences in travel behaviour with insight into Arab society in particular were reviewed, as well as their attitudes towards car driving and environmental concerns. In addition, quantitative and qualitative studies were conducted to further explore the potential impact of women driving through a series of general travel survey and semi-structured interviews.
The study found that the current travel pattern for women differ from those of men in Saudi Arabia. In contrast to literature examples, the difference was not associated with where the women are in the trajectory of the economic activity participation. This difference was clearly seen on the average travel distance, frequency, trip cost, and activity duration for the purpose of work or study as well as for shopping. For the future travel pattern, a significant proportion of women were found willing to drive with the expectation of some changes in their current travel pattern such as their trip frequency for the purpose of leisure and social activities. Most notably, there are cultural changes in women driving acceptance which were seen from the majority of participants.
The finding from the high level calculations of the current congestion level and accident rate expected an increase by almost one-third when women start driving to impact on where the business, shopping, leisure and social activities are located in Riyadh city. This concluded the need for more new policies and enforcement to enhance safety and regulate the environmental impact as well as the traffic condition. Finally, this is the only rigorously and widely enough collected source of evidence that supports lots of hypothesis about women driving and economic activity growth in Saudi Arabia.
This paper presents an innovative structured procedure for developing integrated traffic relieve programs with immediate important practical implications. This is based on expert judgement. The paper starts by developing a comprehensive inventory and categorization of policies and measures that are aimed at relieving traffic problems in metropolitan cities. Generic criteria that can be used as basis for the judgmental assessment of such policies and measures are identified and selected. An attitudinal questionnaire was designed to elicit the judgment of transport, traffic and highway academics (experts) regarding potentiality (efficiency and effectiveness), public acceptability, applicability, perceived cost and priority of implementation of these policies and measures. Appropriate nonparametric statistical tests and techniques were selected and applied to conduct an in depth statistical analysis of the gathered expert information. The main purpose of such analysis is to obtain judgment patterns of experts and degree of consensus among them. The statistical analysis was complemented by a weighting procedure to establish the potential achievement rate of each policy and measure and hence in decisions on whether to use and implement these in relieving traffic problems. As a result of the analysis, complementary traffic relieve programs are developed. The paper concludes with a set of recommendations for mitigating traffic problems in mega cities of the developing world such as Cairo.
The paper aims to analyze the most important of daily traffic in the city of Riyadh, along with the negative effects of its heavy volume, especially in the light of future predictions of annual population growth as well as the increase of car trips, which undoubtedly will endanger future vehicular unless certain necessary measures are taken. As the capital of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh is considered one of the fastest growing cities in terms of urbanism and population. The city's population has reached 4.5 million and continues to grow at a rate of 8% annually. It is expected to reach 10.5 million by 2022. This will make daily movement inside the city an issue of complex dimensions given the fast growth in the citizenity, the expansion of the city and the reliance of people on private automobiles due to their high incomes and lack of suitable alternative means of transport. This has resulted in increased congestion during peak hours as well as increase of travel time and the cost of trips in addition to deteriorating levele of traffic safety and increased environmental pollution. The study assumes quantitative scientific analysis relying on data and statistics and ADA studies in addition to information from official authorities supervising the development of the city. It concludes by suggesting five strategic orientations to improve traffic movement.
Analyse des Ursprungs und der Entwicklung der Ölstadt. Innerhalb weniger Jahrzehnte entwickelten sich aufgrund des Ölbooms neue Millionenmetropolen auf der Arabischen Halbinsel. Diese brachen die Tradition der historischen Oasenstadt und stellen einen neuen Stadttyp dar. Die Arbeit analysiert die saudische Hauptstadt Riad und Dubai. Besonderer Schwerpunkt ist die Frage nach Nachhaltigkeit und Zukunft der Ölstadt.
This research starts by developing a comprehensive inventory and categorization of demand and supply-based policies and measures that are aimed at relieving traffic problems in metropolitan cities. A set of generic criteria that can be used as a basis for the judgmental assessment of such policies and measures is identified and selected. An attitudinal questionnaire is then designed to elicit the judgment of transport, traffic and highway experts regarding potentiality (efficiency and effectiveness), public acceptability, applicability, perceived cost and priority of implementation of these policies and measures. Appropriate nonparametric statistical tests and techniques are selected and applied to conduct an in depth statistical analysis of gathered expert information. The main purpose of such analysis is to obtain judgment patterns of experts and degree of consensus among them. Statistical analysis is complemented by a weighting procedure to establish the potential achievement rate of each policy and measure and hence to support in making decisions on whether to use and implement such policy or measure in relieving traffic problems. As a result of the analysis, three complementary traffic relief programs were developed. The research concludes with proposing an action program for the implementation of the suggested traffic relief package.
Purpose
– The purpose of this study was to investigate and model travel behaviour and attitudes for households in Saudi Arabia.
Design/methodology/approach
– A household survey was used to collect data on household travel patterns and socio‐economic variables in the city of Tabuk in Saudi Arabia. The population of Tabuk city is just under 500,000 people, of which approximately 83 per cent are Saudi nationals and 17 per cent non‐Saudi nationals. The average household size is about six persons.
Findings
– Although there have been a large number of research investigations into travel behaviour in Western countries, there is a huge lack of studies in this area in some countries, such as Saudi Arabia. The specific characteristics of socio‐economic patterns as well as travel behaviour attitudes in this country make it a very interesting and unique area, which has its own characteristics and patterns, hence the need for the research.
Originality/value
– Although there have been a large number of research investigations into travel behaviour in the Western countries, there is a huge lack of studies in this area in some countries such as Saudi Arabia. The specific characteristics of socio‐economic patterns as well as travel behaviour attitudes in this country make it a very interesting and unique area which has its own characteristics and patterns, hence the need for the research.
Urban freeway congestion can be categorized into two types: recurring congestion occuring routinely at predictable locations during specific times; and non-recurring congestion which occurs at random locations and/or times. Both are a result of excessive traffic demand volumes that exceed the available capacity, but their different characteristics require different management techniques. The authors look first at the management of recurring congestion which can be categorised under two strategies: supply management techniques; and demand management techniques. Non-recurring congestion is more difficult to manage, and techniques are based around the identification of the incident that is the cause of the congestion and the subsequent clearance of it. The advent of the computer age and development of the microprocessor have provided the potential to further reduce congestion through a greater variety of management techniques. -after Authors
Recent increases in the price of gasoline have influenced urban travel, but have reduced automobile travel volumes only slightly. This has occurred because the price of gasoline is only a small part of the total price of automobile travel. Incentives to automobile use, such as free parking at the work place, still make it an attractive option for most commuters. Pricing policy can be used to influence urban-travel patterns, but uncoordinated pricing of transit and automobile alternatives merely corrects for inefficient and inequitable subsidies to one mode by adding inequitable and inefficient subsidies to others. As a result, all urban-transportation modes are underpriced, and together they continue to encourage suburbanization and increasing travel volumes. 25 references.
Fundamental changes in traffic patterns in recent years suggest that a different arsenal will be needed in battling America's future congestion problems. This paper argues that in the absence of congestion pricing, coordinated land use planning can provide the most lasting mobility dividends over the long run. Shifts in the location of workplaces from downtowns served by transit to suburban settings where individuals are compelled to use their own cars are at the heart of today's congestion dilemma. Four land use initiatives are proposed that could make the suburban workplace of tomorrow more consonant with high levels of mobility: densification, mixed-use development, jobs-housing balance, and pedestrian-friendly site designs. Many of the institutional roadblocks to implementing such programs are discussed. -from Author
Despite the steady migration of jobs to the suburbs over the past decade, many suburban residents commute farther than ever. This article attributes the widening separation of suburban workplaces and the residences of suburban workers to several factors: fiscal and exclusionary zoning that results in an undersupply of housing; rents and housing costs that price many service workers out of the local residential market; and several demographic trends, including the growth in dual wage-earner households and career shifts. Case studies of metropolitan Chicago and San Francisco confirm the displacing effects of high housing costs and housing shortages. Inclusionary zoning, tax-base sharing, fair-sharing housing programs, and a number of incentive-base programs could reduce jobs-housing mismatches and go a long way toward safeguarding regional mobility for years to come. -from Author
This paper provides findings from a review of employer based demand management strategies for reducing traffic congestion in several areas of the United States. The research was carried out by K.T. Analytics, Inc. in 1989 under a contract with the Federal Department of Transportation, Transportation Systems Center. Relying on a review of employer based programs in 26 sites, as well as selected literature, the paper draws conclusions about the effectiveness of employer based transportation systems management (programs to encourage carpooling, transit, biking, cycling, walking and flextime) and parking management (preferential parking for carpoolers, removal of parking subsidies, and other measures) aimed at reducing solo driving and peak period commuting.
Several conclusions are offered for local planners and policy makers. Demand Management programs can be effective in reducing traffic congestion, provided they are targeted to larger employment centers, accompanied by transit development, high occupancy vehicle incentives and parking management strategies, especially pricing. Flextime should not be encouraged without careful evaluation as it may discourage ridesharing. Guaranteed ride home services appear promising and deserve attention. With all strategies, long term vigilance will be necessary as programs are susceptible to change over time. Stringent public policies do not appear necessary for development of effective programs. Ordinances should require plans not specific strategies, as it is difficult estimating the probable effectiveness of particular strategies. Ordinances should contain sanctions for employers not carrying out agreed to plans, and should include fees and financing to support public sector review of plans and on-going monitoring.
Government Planning Policy Guidance Note 13: Transport, advises town planners to identify locations for new development which are highly accessible by means other than the car. The aim is to achieve a reduction in car-based travel. This paper reports the results of recent research into the relationship between the location of new residential development and travel behaviour. The research utilized detailed surveys of households in Oxfordshire to identify the significance of carbased travel for the location of major new housing areas. The research findings on travel behaviour are considered in the context of government guidance and the current practice of strategic housing location by local planning authorities. They confirm the value of PPG 13 advice which seeks to locate new development in existing larger urban areas. However the location of development in relation to strategic transport routes has an important effect on household relocation decisions and subsequent travel behaviour. The proximity of such routes has the effect of increasing travel generation and works counter to the value of locating development in large urban areas. The findings also raise questions about the notion of self-containment or balanced communities and indicate the need for a wider, sub-regional overview of future locations of major housing developments.
Urban traffic congestion is growing most rapidly in the developing world, and it is here, mainly because of infrastructure and resource constraints, that traffic restraint is likely to be most urgently required in the near future. This paper examines the specific problems of developing countries and the attempts which have been made to introduce policies of road pricing in a number of their cities. The findings are that, given the conditions prevailing, a number of fiscal restraint policies offer at least a partial solution. Road pricing is found to be technically feasible, but its wider use is likely to be limited for some time by political factors. Thus second-best policies that gradually move towards more effective restraints are likely to be the best option in many countries.
Traffic levels in the U.K. are forecast to increase by up to 142% over the next two decades, leading to increased problems of congestion and environmental deterioration. We appear to be reaching a near consensus that the way to deal with these problems is with limited road building accompanied by some form of transport demand restraint measures. The success of such measures depends on the level of dependence of the public on their cars, their attitudes to congestion and the environment and their outlook on the concept and the practicality of the measures. This paper addresses these issues using the results of a questionnaire survey of 2428 households in the U.K. It concludes that although most people recognise the problems caused by traffic, they are unwilling to do much about it voluntarily. Demand restraint measures that hit people's purses directly appeared likely to meet with most success, but because of the level of attachment of many people to their cars, if real demand restraint is required, direct controls may be necessary.
Computer-produced typeface. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Portland State University, 1993. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [145]-156).
Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of London, 1990.
In this paper, a simulation model of commuting behavior in a metropolitan area with decentralized employment and congestion is developed. The model is used to explore the linkage between the dispersed land use patterns in U.S. cities and long commuting journeys which cause congestion and air pollution. The results show that increasing the number of suburban subcenters in a metropolitan area could reduce commuting by 15% to 50%. However, only about one quarter of total urban travel is for commuting. Therefore the reduction in total urban travel that could be expected to result from even drastic policy measures to decentralize employment would probably be low-perhaps as small as 5%. Data are also presented giving private versus social costs of commuting per mile in central cities and suburbs. Copyright American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association.
Dealing with traffic congestion: the land use alternative
- Al-Mosaind
The fourth crisis in urban transportation
- Hall
Demand management in suburban settings: effectiveness and policy considerations
- Higgins
Land use and transportation planning in response to congestion problems: a review and critique
- Deaken