Traffic jam
Introduction
Traffic congestion is a serious issue that is common in large cities and on main highways and it imposes a significant burden in some aspects such as environmental effects, waste time and money, and aggravation for passenger and freight transportation (Palam and Lindsey, 2009: 1377). According to Chen and Li (2011: 2), traffic jams in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area, which is one of the fastest developing urban areas in the United States, have been a critical problem to face, because the population in this area has rapidly increased 40% from 1990 to 2010. Data from US Census Bureau (2010) show there are 37% of Washington commuters take public transportation to work, it is the second highest rate in the US. In addition, commuters walk to work and travel by bicycle occupy 12% and 3% respectively. However, the Washington D.C. ranks the fourth congested area and suffers from highest yearly delay per auto commuter in the US (Schrank et al, 2011:24).
According to Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) (2013), because of traffic congestion about 4 hours and 30 minutes were wasted in traffic each person in Washington in 2012. Moreover, it shows the delay on highways cost Washington citizens and businesses 780 million dollars in 2012 and approximately 12,156 metric tons of carbon dioxide were discharged from vehicles each weekday in 2012. In order to solve these problems, roads-improvements may be a feasible approach to be used because the Washington’s roads need more park space and wide road to carry more vehicles (WSDOT, 2013). However, the high cost and environmental effects may influence its feasibility. Compared with roads-improvements, due to using cameras in roads, the telecommuting approach may be more appropriate to save money and protect environment (Chen and Li, 2011: 2-3).
This report will compare both roads-improvements and telecommuting in three aspects: cost, environmental effects and social acceptance. Considering to its
Traffic congestion is a serious issue that is common in large cities and on main highways and it imposes a significant burden in some aspects such as environmental effects, waste time and money, and aggravation for passenger and freight transportation (Palam and Lindsey, 2009: 1377). According to Chen and Li (2011: 2), traffic jams in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area, which is one of the fastest developing urban areas in the United States, have been a critical problem to face, because the population in this area has rapidly increased 40% from 1990 to 2010. Data from US Census Bureau (2010) show there are 37% of Washington commuters take public transportation to work, it is the second highest rate in the US. In addition, commuters walk to work and travel by bicycle occupy 12% and 3% respectively. However, the Washington D.C. ranks the fourth congested area and suffers from highest yearly delay per auto commuter in the US (Schrank et al, 2011:24).
According to Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) (2013), because of traffic congestion about 4 hours and 30 minutes were wasted in traffic each person in Washington in 2012. Moreover, it shows the delay on highways cost Washington citizens and businesses 780 million dollars in 2012 and approximately 12,156 metric tons of carbon dioxide were discharged from vehicles each weekday in 2012. In order to solve these problems, roads-improvements may be a feasible approach to be used because the Washington’s roads need more park space and wide road to carry more vehicles (WSDOT, 2013). However, the high cost and environmental effects may influence its feasibility. Compared with roads-improvements, due to using cameras in roads, the telecommuting approach may be more appropriate to save money and protect environment (Chen and Li, 2011: 2-3).
This report will compare both roads-improvements and telecommuting in three aspects: cost, environmental effects and social acceptance. Considering to its