|
Across the United States, construction on new freeways, lane additions, and bridges clog traffic. With more people and vehicles on the road, the rush hour is now three hours long. So what are city planners doing about it? In the nation's capital, home to some of the worst congestion, traffic modelers are working on solutions to the problem. From understanding human behavior to designing intelligent highways, the modelers are working to make your commute easier. Producer Richard Paul reports.
Traffic Jam was produced by Richard Paul. Archival tape was supplied by the Internet Moving Images Archive, at www.archive.org. Irene Sanders is the author of "Strategic Thinking and the New Science: Planning in the Midst of Chaos, Complexity and Change" published by The Free Press. This program is part of "What If?", our series about scientific modeling, produced with support from the National Science Foundation.
Links:
Traffic Waves
See how traffic flows on highways with the moving animation on this site.
Applied Technology and Traffic Analysis Program
An initiative to decrease traffic congestion in the state of Maryland.
Maryland State Highway Administration
Everything you need to know about Maryland highways.
Woodrow Wilson Bridge Project
A multi-billion dollar construction project to ease one of the worst bottlenecks in the U.S.
Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments
News and information from the Department of Transportation Planning about travel and air quality in the nation's capital.
Books:
Moving beyond Gridlock: Traffic and Development by: By Robert T. Dunphy, Deborah L. Brett 1996 Strategies to decrease traffic jams in urban areas.
The American Highway: The History and Culture of Roads in the United States by: By William Kaszynski 2000 The development of highways from wagon trails to interstates.
|