Advancements in science and modern technology has enabled mankind to live longer and healthier. We can design faster and smarter transport modes. We build ultra-modern cities. The downfall is that the systems we build cannot accommodate all the people they are supposed to serve. We are over-crowding the planet, our roads and our cities and killing nature in order to accommodate an ever-growing population with ever-increasing needs. New York traffic conditions are now among the worst in the USA.
This dubious achievement does not come as a shock. Americans have felt the impact of an ever-increasing number of vehicles on the roads on various levels during the past decade - on their pockets, stress-levels and time management. Routes to work and back that used to take them a mere 20 minutes, now take almost an hour.
Road pricing in the form of tolls has thus far only managed to increase the blood pressure and stress levels of commuters without any noticeable improvement of the underlying problem. Paying toll money to buy less combusted roads has only affected their wallets and caused commuters to take detours in order to avoid the tolls - causing even more frustration and time wastage.
In a world where time equals money, the wastage of productive time due to congested roads has huge financial implications. This leads to stress and frustration, which in turn trigger serious health problems. Road rage has become a common part of modern life and incidents where commuters kill, maim or attack each other over trivial issues are rife.
Knowing the problem is one thing, but solving it seems to be a horse of a different color. We cannot all commute by public transport or ride a bicycle to work. The vast distances and varied destinations to which city workers have to travel daily make public transport an inadequate solution - especially in huge metropolitan cities such as New York.
Attempts to motivate commuters to travel in groups or via public transport and to use alternative, less congested routes, are mostly futile due to a lack of compensation or proper motivation. Most people prefer to travel with his/her own car via the shortest routes to save time and petrol. It seems that law enforced tolling systems whereby commuters are forced to pay for less congested roads are the only workable and sustainable solution at this stage.
Motivating commuters to use public transport and lift clubs, and to use alternative routes to alleviate peak hour traffic on over-crowded highways, is not a viable solution. People don't like change and will always try to find the shortest route to their destination to save time and petrol. Road pricing seems to be one of the only possible solutions to New York's traffic problems.
The fact that such anti-congestion tolling systems have proven to work in some cities such as London, does not necessarily mean it will be equally successful in other cities. Any campaign aimed at raising public support for such a system will have to focus on switching public opinion where it matters, namely offering tangible advantages to the commuters.
This dubious achievement does not come as a shock. Americans have felt the impact of an ever-increasing number of vehicles on the roads on various levels during the past decade - on their pockets, stress-levels and time management. Routes to work and back that used to take them a mere 20 minutes, now take almost an hour.
Road pricing in the form of tolls has thus far only managed to increase the blood pressure and stress levels of commuters without any noticeable improvement of the underlying problem. Paying toll money to buy less combusted roads has only affected their wallets and caused commuters to take detours in order to avoid the tolls - causing even more frustration and time wastage.
In a world where time equals money, the wastage of productive time due to congested roads has huge financial implications. This leads to stress and frustration, which in turn trigger serious health problems. Road rage has become a common part of modern life and incidents where commuters kill, maim or attack each other over trivial issues are rife.
Knowing the problem is one thing, but solving it seems to be a horse of a different color. We cannot all commute by public transport or ride a bicycle to work. The vast distances and varied destinations to which city workers have to travel daily make public transport an inadequate solution - especially in huge metropolitan cities such as New York.
Attempts to motivate commuters to travel in groups or via public transport and to use alternative, less congested routes, are mostly futile due to a lack of compensation or proper motivation. Most people prefer to travel with his/her own car via the shortest routes to save time and petrol. It seems that law enforced tolling systems whereby commuters are forced to pay for less congested roads are the only workable and sustainable solution at this stage.
Motivating commuters to use public transport and lift clubs, and to use alternative routes to alleviate peak hour traffic on over-crowded highways, is not a viable solution. People don't like change and will always try to find the shortest route to their destination to save time and petrol. Road pricing seems to be one of the only possible solutions to New York's traffic problems.
The fact that such anti-congestion tolling systems have proven to work in some cities such as London, does not necessarily mean it will be equally successful in other cities. Any campaign aimed at raising public support for such a system will have to focus on switching public opinion where it matters, namely offering tangible advantages to the commuters.
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