Transport issues - problems and solutions

Page 1

Curitiba

220 miles SW of Sao Paulo and capital of Paraná State.

Grew rapidly in the second half of the 20th Century, from 150,000 people in the 1950s to almost 1.6 million today.

Problems:

In the early 1900s, streets began to be constructed as the population increased and there was a growing need for public transport.

In Nov 1887, Curitiba introduced its 1st public transport system of open horse drawn carriages that were used until the introduction of electric trolleys in 1913.

At this time, due to the cost, buses were deemed unfavourable compared to electric trolleys that were still in use.

During the 1940s there was a competition between trolleys and buses and slowly, bus routes began to replace trolley routes and the trolley system stopped completely in 1951.

Solutions:

1974- the road hierarchy and land control system which formed structural growth corridors, these were composed of a triple road system with the central road having 2 restricted lanes dedicated to express buses. Parallel to the express bus lanes were 2 local roads running in opposite directions, which allowed local traffic to pass through the city.

Automatic ticketing to the system - allowed passengers to purchase metal tokens at terminals, newsstands or shops or pay with money at bus terminals. This increased the speed of transfers and boarding of passengers.

Integrated transport system -

- Made up of 340 routes that utilise 1,902 buses to transport 1.9 million passengers a day.

- The entire network covers 1,100km of roads with 60km of it dedicated for bus use.

- There are 25 transfer terminals within the system and 221 tube stations that all allow for pre-paid boarding.

- To allow for more passengers, they have introduced bi-articulated buses with 3 compartments, each bus holding up to 270 people.

- They carry up to 4000 passengers a day, 3000 more than a conventional bus.

Successes:

75% of commuters used the public transport- cutting congestion by 25% and cuts travel time by 1/3

Bus companies are paid on the distance they travel not the amount of passengers they carry, therefore the less popular routes still run.

While this system is powered by diesel, the reduction of the number of cars compensates, if not surpasses the difference in CO2 emissions.

Based on 1991 traveller survey results, it was estimated that the introduction of the bus system had caused a reduction of about 27 million auto trips per year, annually saving about 27 million litres of fuel. 28% of bus riders previously travelled by car.

Compared to 8 other Brazilian cities of its size, Curitiba uses about 30% less fuel per capita, resulting in one of the country's lowest rates of air pollution - despite the city being founded on heavy industry and being home to Volvo and Renault.

People only spent about 10% of their income on travel, much below the national average.

Failures:

The novelty and popularity of the arterial system resulted in overcrowded buses that caused delays in boarding stops and terminals. To compensate for the loss in time, bus drivers would increase speed, creating potentially dangerous situations and accidents.

The bus system is still oil dependent - the city does not promote walking and cycling (most sustainable and cheaper).

Page 2

Nottingham (UK)

Population = 642,000

Regional capital of the East Midlands, has a number of retail, commercial, leisure and tourist functions.

Problems:

Between 1988 and 1998 there was an increase of 12.5% in the annual average daily traffic compared to a national increase of 6.4% and the problem of gridlock was an ongoing problem.

It was estimated that the morning peak in bound speed for vehicles has decreased from 17.5mph to 15.7mph showing the delays due to congestion.

Solutions:

Park n Ride schemes - out of the half a million cars who use these schemes, about 1/3 to 1/2 now use the facilities to go to work and about 1/3 to go shopping.

Reduction of parking facilities - reduction in the number of on-street parking spaces in the CBD, high long stay parking charges introduced for about 70% of the off street parking spaces to deter commuters, short stay charges at lower rates as the council does not want to discourage shoppers or visitors.

Air quality - authorities monitoring air pollution

Improvements of bus services - e.g. relocation of road space from cars in favour of bus lanes, improving service reliability, bus priority schemes at certain junctions, house deliveries of bus timetables, free trips to promote new services, easy rider travel cards, two for one offers, providing more bus shelters, the 'Nextbus' scheme (displays the time and destination of the next bus to arrive at a bus stop).

Rail - e.g. creating 2 new east routes, improving existing stations and building new ones, reopening of the Robin Hood Line.

Nottingham express transit system - a mass transit light rail scheme funded by the council and private sources. Each vehicle will carry 230 people and at peak times the service will be every 5 minutes. First Line One will eventually cater for 30,000 passengers per day and remove 2 million car journeys per year.

Cycling - scheme including cycling to complement other forms of travel e.g. increasing the use of Bikerail.

Walking - encouraging people to walk to work if the journey is 2 miles or less by creating larger pedestrianised areas in the CBD and good network of pedestrian links, upgrading walkways e.g. installation of CCTV, providing better signposts and information, replacing subways in the city centre.

Green transport plans - local authority is actively involved in the development and promotion of commuter planning by drawing up a travel plan for its own staff and encouraging other employers to do so too. These plans now involve a total of over 50,000 workers and include measures such as reducing the number of car park spaces for staff, starting car park permit schemes, setting up car sharing schemes, loans to buy cycles and offering working from home.

Effectiveness:

Many train line alterations were expensive e.g. the Robin Hood line cost £28 million.

50% reduction in the number of killed and seriously injured casualties in the last 10 years.

Beacon Status award for Road Safety for improving accessibility

Natural England Award for best integration of the LTP with the Rights of Way Improvement Plan

Nottingham is now one of the country's least congested cities according to a new report. The study, measuring traffic jams in the UK's 17 biggest urban areas shows the city is one of only 3 to have improved levels of traffic since last year.

Page 3

Sao Paulo

Sao Paulo has developed without planning - led to shanty towns with non-existent services. This has placed pressure on transport systems.

Public transport ineffective - buses are too slow (av. 13kmph) and cost of fares too expensive ($3.20 for a single trip)

Bus system is complicated - 17,000 buses serve 16 million inhabitants, coloured uniformly according to the region served (e.g. light green for the buses that go from the centre to the southwest); 12,000 of them serve the Sao Paulo municipality itself.

Congestion is heavy at peak times, and traffic signal timing favours the flow of cars. Bus operations are also hampered by ticket collection systems and by poor access for bus passengers which lengthens boarding.

The systems is also poorly integrated with other methods of public transport as there are no through ticketing or frequent user incentives like travelcards. Meant that people use cars which leads to increased congestion.

97% of travel is road based, 2.2% air and less than 1% rail.

Solutions:

Cars:

Traffic restriction system in Sao Paulo, which resricts certain cars on one day of the week, depending on the last digit on their number plate (i.e. on Mondays, plates ending with 1 and 2 are restricted from entering certain areas at certain times).

Avoiding heavy vehicles traffic, such as buses and trucks entering the city just to get to other destinations. A ring of roads are being built outside the city, leaving room for the main commuters.

Ethanol fuelled vehicle and introduction of FFV's (flexible fuel vehicles) and HEV's (Hybrid Electric Vehicles). Brazil is the largest consumer and producer of ethanol, which has fallen in production costs from 4-5% since 1975, making it cost effective and environmentally desirable. The introduction of Gasohol (25% ethanol added to regular gasoline) to HEV's intends to double fuel economy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50%.

Underground:

Extensions to existing lines going beyond city boundaries

New links are being created to join the city centre (also to reduce congestion) to the cultural and shopping areas around Jardins.

Buses:

'Trunkline bus corridors' where bus lines are simplified into feeder routes, and one main bus route into the central city centre.

'Expresso Tiradentes' is a rapid transport system built to relieve traffic congestion in Sao Paulo.