Talk about traffic jam - Essay Example

Traffic Jams Insert Here Insert Your Affiliation Here Traffic Jams A man-made situation that is considered normal and routine nowadays aptly describes what a ‘traffic jam’ actually is. One never blinks an eyelid at the phrase though it was an unheard of scenario during the early parts of the Twentieth Century, when motor-driven vehicles as well as roads were scarce. The present day dependence on engine driven vehicles of all sorts and sizes and the enthralling experience of rushing down the road at breakneck speed have combined with the capability of buying one’s own transport to spew a huge number of fast moving juggernauts on the road, vying with each other to hog the road space.

It is therefore not surprising that one encounters overcrowding on the highways with frequent traffic snarls and impatient, honking drivers. Traffic jams have even resulted in the emergence of a totally new phenomenon called road rage. The burgeoning population and economic prosperity in the last century made possession of a personal car desirable as well as mandatory in the developed countries. Combined with the traffic load of public transport vehicles, bikes, heavy trucks of all shapes and sizes, a typical road now is a veritable zoo of metallic monsters.

Traffic jams not only result in public inconvenience, but cause psychological distress as well. Such jams often result in great economic loss to the organizations’ whose deliveries are delayed, loss of reputation for professionals who are unable to attend fixed appointments, and sometimes critical delay in getting a grievously injured patient to the hospital. Finding a solution to the problem is not a new phenomenon, as administrators’ and engineers’ have tried multiple tricks up their sleeves to organize traffic conditions on city roads as well as trans-state/trans-national highways.

Availability of new technology like computer controlled traffic signals, closed-circuit camera observation, regulation of traffic by traffic-marshals and channeling traffic according to shape, kind and size of vehicles have all been tried. Building new roads, multi-lane highways and flyovers are some of the time tested strategies but they have failed to ebb the flow of the ever-increasing traffic. The limiting factor is the burgeoning population and the thrust on pushing up sales of newer models of vehicles by the automobile manufacturers.

Despite the looming fear of extinction of fossil fuels and their increasing prices, automobile manufacturers are coming up with vehicles which run on alternate sources of fuel to feed the consumer demand. It seems that the present recession and decreased affordability are the only two factors which can reduce the number of vehicles on the road. People should realize that walking to work or riding bicycles are not only healthy habits, but sustainable as well. Public transport should be made use of instead of personal cars.

Going back to nature and restructuring human mobility as nature had intended it to be are the only solutions to this malady. People should have employment opportunities close to their place of dwelling in order to do away with the dependence on motor-driven vehicles. However, such a drastic change is not feasible immediately and needs to be incorporated gradually into the lifestyle of future generations to come. Traffic jams cannot be avoided if the current trend in the rise of vehicles keeps being encouraged and accepted.

Better organization, computer controlled traffic and more roads can serve to be only temporary solutions. The phenomenon needs to be addressed by rooting out the very basis of its occurrence i.e. by reducing the dependence on vehicles. Reorganization of public transport and reducing the use of personal vehicles seem to be the only practicable solution. This will also allow a check on the environmental pollution caused by these metallic monsters. Human survivability on the planet can only be ensured by going back to nature and becoming less dependent on machines being churned out by the all too many technological innovations.