English Language 2
March 29, 2010
TRAFFIC CONGESTION
Traffic congestion is a road condition characterized by slower speeds, longer trip times, and increased
queuing. It occurs when roadway demand is greater than its capacity. A period of extreme traffic congestion is
colloquially known as a traffic jam.
Traffic congestion has several negative effects:
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By increasing motorist stress and frustration, congestion can encourage road rage and cause reduced
health of motorists.
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Congestion wastes fuel and increases air pollution due to increased idling, acceleration, and braking.
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Since drive time is a non-productive activity, congestion reduces regional economic health by increasing
drive times.
Traffic congestion, often bad enough to require drastic control measures, was a feature of city life at least
as early as Roman times. A basic cause, then as now, was poor city planning, with roads laid out in such a way
as to bring traffic from all quarters to a central crossing point. In the 1st century BC Julius Caesar banned
wheeled traffic from Rome during the daytime, a measure gradually extended to cities in the provinces. Late in
the 1st century AD the emperor Hadrian was forced to limit the total number of carts entering Rome.
About 1500 Leonardo da Vinci, envisioning a revolutionary solution to urban traffic problems – then acute in
the crowded and busy Italian cities – proposed separating wheeled and pedestrian traffic by creating routes at
different levels. Except for the railway, however, few segregated route systems were established before the
20th century.
Congestion was severe enough in European cities of the 17th century to require ordinances prohibiting
parking on certain streets and establishing one-way traffic. The arrival of the railway brought temporary relief to
the growing problem of road traffic control, though it created congestion at terminals inside cities. The
automobile, with its increase first in speed and then in numbers over horse-drawn transport, rapidly created a
new situation that was to become one of the characteristic problems of urban industrialized society in the 20th
century.
One of the ways of alleviating traffic congestion is the use of Park and ride facilities. They are public
transport stations that allow commuters to leave their personal vehicles in a parking lot and transfer to a bus,
rail system or carpool for the rest of their trip. The vehicle is stored in the lot during the day and retrieved when
the commuter returns. Park and rides are generally located in the suburbs of metropolitan areas or on the outer
edges of large cities. Partly because of the concentration of riders, these terminals often have express transit
service, with a limited number of stops and often taking a faster route if available, such as a high-occupancy
vehicle (HOV) lane. The service may only take passengers in one direction in the morning (typically toward a
central business district) and in the opposite direction in the evening, with no or a limited number of trips
available in the middle of the day. It is often not allowed to park at these locations overnight. Overall, these
attributes vary from region to region.
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Park and ride schemes are often marketed as a way to avoid the difficulties and cost of parking within the
city center. Park and ride lots allow commuters to avoid the stress of driving a congested part their journey
and/or facing scarce, expensive downtown parking. It is hoped that the lots will reduce both of these problems
by making it easier for people to take the bus or train into town. Sometimes, even these lots become too busy,
and people sometimes organize to carpool to the station to combat crowding.
In transportation engineering and transportation planning, a high-occupancy vehicle lane (or HOV lane) is a
lane for vehicles with a driver and one or more passengers. Qualification for HOV status varies by locality, and
may require more than 2 people. When an automobile is used as an HOV, the group of people using it is often
called a carpool, though the term HOV includes buses and vans. However, bus lanes may not necessarily be
intended for use by carpools. An HOV or carpool may be allowed to travel on special road lanes, usually
denoted with a diamond marking in the United States, on which single occupant vehicles are prohibited, called
carpool lanes or diamond lanes. In some cases, single occupant vehicles are allowed provided that they are
hybrid vehicles or use alternative fuels; in some cases, motorcycles are allowed to use the lanes, as well. In
some areas, such as Southern California, the HOV lanes are full-time, while in others, such as the San
Francisco Bay Area, they are usable by other vehicles outside of peak hours.
1. What is traffic congestion?
2. What is traffic jam?
3. How was traffic congestion dealt with through the history?
4. What does HOV status mean? What would be the opposite?
5. What is a carpool?
6. What is a diamond marking? What other shapes of markings are there?
7. What are hybrid vehicles?
8. Can you guess what a “reversible separated HOV lane” could be?
Read on and find out whether you are right:
Some cities that use separated HOV lanes make them reversible; i.e. usable only by inbound traffic during
the morning rush and usable only by outbound traffic during the evening rush.
1. Match the following examples to the four types of conditional sentences.
1. If you cheated, you would notice something very unusual.
2. We would remember more if we had more confidence in our memories.
3. If you do not want to lose it, use it.
4. He wouldn’t have arrived so late if he had had a better car.
5. You can borrow my car if you bring it back on the dot of six.
6. If he had studied more, he would have finished college by now.
7. If you tried a bit harder, you would succeed.
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2. Connect the sentences in column 1 with appropriate endings in column 2:
1)
If you need to make a phone call,
a) people would be more sympathetic.
2)
If you didn’t complain so much,
b) I’ll leave a number I can be contacted on.
3)
If there was an emergency,
c) everyone will be satisfied.
4)
If I knew what the answer was,
d) why would I be asking you?
5)
If I told you a secret,
e) you might actually be able to find things.
6)
If you tidied your desk,
f) would you keep it to yourself?
7)
Unless you have made other plans,
g) please keep it short.
8)
As long as you still love me,
h) I’d like you to have dinner with me.
9)
Provided you have done your best,
i) I wouldn’t have a clue what to do.
10)
In case there is an urgent message,
j) nothing else matters.
3. Supply endings to the following sentences:
1 – If I weren’t studying English now, I ______
2 – I find it hard to concentrate on studying if __________
3 – If you don’t have a dictionary, ______________
4. Complete the sentence using several options:
Congestion wouldn’t have existed if ___________
(e.g. if the cities had been planned better.)
5. Complete the sentence using several options:
If there was no congestion, ________
(e.g. the motorists would experience less stress and frustration.)
6. late, mid- or early
The year 1991 is _______ 90s.
The year 1995 is _______ 90s.
The year 1998 is _______ 90s.
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