The problem with cars isn't routing, its geometry. Cars cant be fixed. Build more trains and trams and busses and bike lanes already.
And enshrine remote working in law, so much of our commuting is utterly unnecessary.
How we can reduce traffic congestion
191–200 of 373 posts
Re: How we can reduce traffic congestion
#192100% remote unless absolutely required. Professions like doctors, cooks, massage therapists. This will clear 95% of traffic. Start with mandatory remote for all software jobs.
It's estimated that only 37% of jobs can be done remotely, while 72%-86% of US workers rely on cars for commuting. The best solution involves creating a multitude of non-car transportation options, to allow workers to choose the most convenient mode of transport, maximizing potential non-car commuting. Bike/ebike, e-scooter, motorcycle/scooter, golf cart, bus, tram, subway, train, ferry.
37% is a huge amount though. Obviously fixing the problem would require many different solutions to come together, but that's an immense improvement that can be made with a mere law.
Re: How we can reduce traffic congestion
#193How we can reduce traffic congestion? 1. Extensive support of public transport: metro, tram, dedicated bus routes (separate from car traffic), dedicated paths for bicycles. 2. ... maybe whatever is this ... UPDATE: here's a good graph - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_transport#/media/File:P... , i.e. car traffic is often congested because of inherent low passenger bandwith. If google wants to manage traffic as…
> here's a good graph The trouble with this graph is that it assumes the buses/trains are full. It obviously doesn't apply to a bus with one passenger on it, which takes up even more space than a car. From which we can observe the problem. Alice is at home and wants to go to work. She travels along a low density street for a few miles, enters a congested thoroughfare for a few more miles, then travels along another l…
> The trouble with this graph is that it assumes the buses/trains are full. It obviously doesn't apply to a bus with one passenger on it, which takes up even more space than a car.
IMHO it's a bit moot to delve into extremes. Average car occupancy is around 1.5 passengers. I'd bet that such number is far from average for average bus/train/tram/metro. I also probably won't make a mistake stating that "Average car" in USA is either a very big SUV or even bigger "truck" (which probably has a footprint as half of a bus). You also need to park your car somewhere at the destination.
I also thought that there will be reply like yours, though you answered your own problem:
> To fix this the thing you need before mass transit (by several years) is zoning rules that allow higher density construction in a higher percentage of the land area where people live and work.
Of course you don't want to build trams and all in low density (and low population) areas and my comment didn't apply for such case. You must have density as well as mixed use zones. I am not from USA and seemingly prevalent single use zoning[1] is very foreign to me. It all comes down to efficient urbant planning.
[1] correct me if I am wrong on this.
Re: How we can reduce traffic congestion
#194Earlier quoted context omitted.
> here's a good graph The trouble with this graph is that it assumes the buses/trains are full. It obviously doesn't apply to a bus with one passenger on it, which takes up even more space than a car. From which we can observe the problem. Alice is at home and wants to go to work. She travels along a low density street for a few miles, enters a congested thoroughfare for a few more miles, then travels along another l…
I believe this is based on actual average usage, not by assuming the vehicles are full.
Which would be even worse, since existing mass transit is naturally concentrated in the places where it can operate with high capacity, and it thereby has a higher existing average than passenger cars. Lots of mostly full commuter trains, not a lot of 8-passenger SUVs that actually have 8 passengers.
When the the proposal is to add more mass transit, it would then have to go in the places it currently isn't, i.e. the places where it would have to operate at lower capacity. Which leads to the problem described.
Re: How we can reduce traffic congestion
#195How we can reduce traffic congestion? 1. Extensive support of public transport: metro, tram, dedicated bus routes (separate from car traffic), dedicated paths for bicycles. 2. ... maybe whatever is this ... UPDATE: here's a good graph - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_transport#/media/File:P... , i.e. car traffic is often congested because of inherent low passenger bandwith. If google wants to manage traffic as…
I would add to the top of that list - reducing the distance people travel. Less kilometers would be very effective. Don't spend hours a day in your car. If people wouldn't be traveling so much, especially for work, this whole problem would disappear.
Re: How we can reduce traffic congestion
#196> For this study, the Google Maps algorithm was modified to prefer alternative routes with similar travel times and segment types, effectively guiding trips away from the pre-selected congested segments > Over a six month period, we adopted a city-wide switchback (also known as crossover) experimental design, alternating between this treatment and the control (unaltered) routing algorithm over consecutive days to app…
I read the article and didn't see anywhere if they collaborated with city planners, or just ran this on their own. I get the techno-optimism of making traffic 'better' and also it may be concerning if trucks are being routed through neighborhoods where planners didn't build for it.
This is also my experience. It would suggest routes that make no sense (to a local) in an attempt to “divert” away from traffic, which ends up costing more time and petrol anyway.
Re: How we can reduce traffic congestion
#197Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think most people get that non-car forms of transport is denser. The two main issues that stop people using it are: 1) Time: Taking a trip involving public transport is slower than a car. This is fixable in urban areas with some dedicated paths, modal filters, and very frequent schedules and that kind of thing but this takes up front resources. 2) Safety: It's not safe. Too much antisocial behaviour on public trans…
You're completely wrong on safety. Driving is much much more dangerous than trains by orders of magnitude. I know what you're getting at when you write safety, but I want to be clear that this is not the same thing as safety.
Assertions made without evidence can be disregarded without evidence, and your assertion does not match my personal experience. Public transit is dangerous, especially in cities like SF or Seattle.
Re: How we can reduce traffic congestion
#198Earlier quoted context omitted.
> here's a good graph The trouble with this graph is that it assumes the buses/trains are full. It obviously doesn't apply to a bus with one passenger on it, which takes up even more space than a car. From which we can observe the problem. Alice is at home and wants to go to work. She travels along a low density street for a few miles, enters a congested thoroughfare for a few more miles, then travels along another l…
> The trouble with this graph is that it assumes the buses/trains are full. It obviously doesn't apply to a bus with one passenger on it, which takes up even more space than a car. IMHO it's a bit moot to delve into extremes. Average car occupancy is around 1.5 passengers. I'd bet that such number is far from average for average bus/train/tram/metro. I also probably won't make a mistake stating that "Average car" in…
> You also need to park your car somewhere at the destination.
This is generally not the problem because most of the destinations aren't in the high-scarcity congestion area, people just have to go through it to get to their destination from their point of origin.
> Of course you don't want to build trams and all in low density (and low population) areas and my comment didn't apply for such case. You must have density as well as mixed use zones.
Which is the thing the US doesn't. Large percentages of land in the areas around many major cities -- some of them among the most congested -- is zoned exclusively for single family homes. There isn't enough density for mass transit to work and it's residential-only, so working within walking distance of those homes is essentially prohibited by law.
Re: How we can reduce traffic congestion
#199How we can reduce traffic congestion? 1. Extensive support of public transport: metro, tram, dedicated bus routes (separate from car traffic), dedicated paths for bicycles. 2. ... maybe whatever is this ... UPDATE: here's a good graph - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_transport#/media/File:P... , i.e. car traffic is often congested because of inherent low passenger bandwith. If google wants to manage traffic as…
Also...allow people to work from home more. During the Covid pandemic, most white-collar employees work from home, and the commute and the traffic is usually not a big problem. But now more and more companies ask employees to go back to office, and traffic jam is becoming a headache again.
I wonder if a very small tax for RTO (perhaps with exemptions for manual jobs) would do the trick?
I think it would help with making companies handle that externality.
Re: How we can reduce traffic congestion
#200Hey I patented this idea about a decade ago: https://patents.google.com/patent/US20170184409A1 (I'm not saying I'm the first or only person to think of it, but I did patent it, as well as the extra claim of compensating those people sent on the slower route).
did you build anything tangible with this idea?
nope, software patents are stupid