What is congestion? In what sciences and spheres of human activity is this word used? What are the causes of traffic congestion and how are they de alt with in progressive countries and cities around the world? You will find answers to all these questions in our article.
Congestion is… Definition and use of the term
This term is used in several scientific disciplines and areas of human activity. Although the meaning of the word "congestion" is about the same. Synonyms for it are: traffic jam, delay, hitch and others.
What is congestion? In the broadest sense, this is a slowdown or temporary delay in the movement of any objects (people, particles, cars, and so on). Moreover, all these objects or bodies must move in the same direction.
Most often the term "congestion" is applicable when it comes to car traffic. In this case, it is often replaced by the word "cork". The term is also widely used in hydrology. In this science, it means the accumulation of ice floes of various sizes in the channels of rivers and watercourses. Congestion on the rivers usually occurs in early spring, provokingrising water levels and floods.
What is traffic congestion?
Residents of large metropolitan areas are already accustomed to standing idle in traffic jams on the way to the robot or returning home from it. What is a traffic jam? What is it?
When the number of cars moving on the road exceeds its capacity, there is a traffic jam, or congestion. Its development is rapid and avalanche-like: in just a few minutes, an entire city street can be paralyzed. Traffic jams should not be confused with so-called burly "puffer trucks" or temporary queues of vehicles in front of traffic lights.
It is curious that the problem of traffic jams appeared in the 17th century! Of course, there were no cars in those days. But there were carriages, the number of which went off scale.
In 2006, a new road sign was established in Russia, which is called “Congestion”. The sign is temporary. Seeing him in front of the fork, the driver can choose an alternative route to follow in order to bypass the problem area.
Causes of traffic jams and how to solve them
There are a lot of reasons for traffic jams on city roads. Let's try to highlight the most common of them:
- daily and weekly population movements;
- serious emergencies;
- repair work on important highways;
- presence of unregulated road crossings or problematicintersections;
- presence of constrictions on the roadway;
- blocking traffic on the roads for the passage of VIPs, officials, presidential motorcades, etc.;
- difficult weather conditions (fog, snowfall, ice, etc.).
With traffic congestion in different countries and cities trying to deal with in different ways. Building additional interchanges, improving intersections, properly adjusting traffic lights and widening the roadway are classic ways. In the most developed countries of the planet, scientists who use the latest computer technologies and developments are actively involved in solving this problem.
The Brazilian city of Curitiba can be called a reference example in the fight against traffic jams. Local authorities have brought the work of public transport here almost to the ideal. In many metropolitan areas in East Asia, this problem is solved with the help of quotas (for example, in Singapore). Here, a person needs not only to buy a car, but also to acquire a quota (permit) for its use within the city.
But in Athens, the solution of the issue was approached outside the box. In the Greek capital, on even days, only cars with license plates ending in an even number are allowed to enter the streets of the city. On odd days, the opposite is true.
In conclusion…
After reading our article, you have learned what congestion is. This is a delay in the movement of people, cars or any other objects directed in one direction. Congestion is not only on the streets, highways or highways. The accumulation of ice floes on the rivers during their opening in the spring periods is also called traffic jams.
