There are two main problems that modern
day cities face, namely urban decay when parts of the city become run down and
undesirable to live in, and traffic congestion. Traffic congestion is caused by
- Many people working in the C.B.D. which may have
narrow streets
- Shortage of off-street parking which means people
park on the roads and so increase congestion
- People not using public transport - either
because it is less convenient, too expensive or not available
- More people own and use cars
As an example of how bad traffic jams now are, a hundred years ago it took about one hour to travel from Paramatta to the centre of Sydney (Australia) by horse and cart. Today it takes longer by car. As well as causing aggravation stationary traffic cause severe air pollution from exhaust fumes. Various solutions to these problems have been tried.
- Ring roads and by-passes; these can be unpopular
as countryside around towns and cities are lost when they are built
- Park and Ride - you park your car on the edge of the built up area and
then ride a bus or train
into the C.B.D.
- One way streets to speed up traffic flow
- Multi-storey car parks
- Banning cars from the from the C.B.D., either
with pedestrianised streets (e.g. Renfield Street in Glasgow) or by
stopping them coming into the city centre at all. Cars are banned from the
centre of Milan (Italy) on Sundays.
- Charging car drivers when they enter the city
centre
A complete solution to traffic congestion needs people to be able and willing to travel on public transport more.
JAKARTA