Topic > San Antonio's Resolution to Road Traffic

Most famous cities across the United States deal with at least one prevalent obstacle: nightmarish traffic congestion. Every year, while in city traffic, billions of gallons of crude oil are discarded and countless hours of personal free time are lost. San Antonio is not excluded from this unwanted circumstance. San Antonio's streets are not equipped to effectively withstand the constant demand for road space. This constant traffic jam can become quite frustrating for people who commute into the city center on a daily basis. Congestion also leads to numerous problems such as increased collisions, air pollution, safety of school zones, wasted time and much more. Developing a solution to San Antonio's traffic congestion problems could be expensive and time-consuming, but it could also mean a substantial improvement in the quality of life in our community. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Countless drivers who have to deal with non-stop traffic end up feeling upset and in a foul mood. Why am I in a bad mood? It's because they are simply sacrificing precious time and hard-earned money. “Alamo City's major roadway conditions are the worst of any Texas metro, costing motorists $1,780 in additional costs per year. These costs include additional repairs, tire wear and vehicle depreciation, lost time and wasted fuel due to traffic congestion and accidents.” (Parker). This would make any normal person angry, and even more upset that “San Antonio drivers waste approximately 38 hours a year in traffic.” Battling heavy traffic doesn't just make drivers late for work or dinner; Numerous studies indicate that dealing with frequent traffic congestion also has negative effects on overall health and well-being. Stopping and starting in traffic jams contributes to the amount of pollutants deposited by motor vehicles. These emissions generate unwanted and excessive pollution. “Recent studies show that breathing fumes at street level for just 30 minutes can intensify electrical activity in brain regions responsible for behavior, personality and decision-making, changes that suggest stress, Dutch scientists recently found” . (Hotz). Most of these toxins present in car exhaust fumes spill into the surrounding environment and cause harmful consequences such as acid rain, smog and global warming. While other factors may be causing these findings, automobile contaminants are the most significant contributor and must be reduced if not eliminated. The most obvious reason it causes traffic is the fact that many people feel more comfortable in their vehicles rather than walking or using public transportation. Additional components that need to be considered are the fact that San Antonio is simply developing too quickly, as city leaders like Mayor Ivy Taylor and County Commissioner Nelson Wolf have previously pointed out. Traffic congestion in San Antonio leads to a high number of accidents. In peak locations, such as main downtown streets and the highway during rush hour, vehicles are very crowded and, as a result, rear-end collisions, reverse collisions and side collisions can occur. In areas such as IH 35 from Loop 353/Nogalitos to US 281 and SL 1604 from SH 16 to FM 471, congestionit continues to increase as more cars try to share the road all at the same time. Fatal accidents can occur when vehicles cannot exit quickly enough to make room for others. However, there are ways to manage traffic. As reported by TomTom's annual Traffic Index report, for the results recorded in 2016, San Antonio ranks 113th for the worst congestion in the world and 32nd in the entire United States! Even though we're not number one on the list, we can't wait to make a change until we do. To address the challenges of congestion here in San Antonio we must ensure this is our top priority. In January 2016, "the city spent $1 million on a sculpture inside the building's atrium" to be advertised in the newly renovated Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center. (Baucum). This type of revenue could have been used to diagnose real-time traffic and road issues. The money should be reserved for traffic until the problems stop. One solution to get more revenue for the city, but also to free up the streets a bit, is the implementation of toll roads. Although many people oppose paying tolls, the benefits associated with tolling on overcrowded roads are so great that other major cities are as well. starting to experiment with them. There are certainly several ways to finance traffic improvements. Some of the most effective ways would be implementing an increase in vehicle registration fees, a driver's license surcharge, an increase in fuel taxes, the creation of tolls, and even a vehicle mileage tax. By exercising these aspects, the city could finance much larger projects such as street widening, street resurfacing, and so on. Toll roads provide another approach to acquiring funds for transportation development expenses and also generally do an exceptional job of eliminating traffic jams. Tolls can be used to charge a toll during the day or by making the toll available during busier periods of the day. (Texas A&M). Fortunately, for the city of San Antonio, we have already incorporated a local transportation system, but the downside is that most citizens do not take the bus, nor do they prefer it, which means the city should give it to them. a new perspective and publicize the benefits of using the VIA Metropolitan Transit system. A great way to promote public transit buses is to simply lower VIA fares. Once an increasing number of people start using it, the dependence on the automobile will soon decrease. These VIA buses help eliminate congestion by eliminating the amount of single-seater vehicles on major highways and highways. It could also be very beneficial for travelers in terms of time management: passengers could work on the bus as it is equipped with wireless internet compatibility features. (Texas A&M). Beyond that, there is a demand for new vehicle roads with higher occupancy, as is the case in many other states such as Arizona. Managed roads such as HOV (high occupancy vehicle) and HOT (high occupancy toll) lanes offer travel alternatives, providing versatility to motorists by allowing them to select the most convenient travel route for their trip. This investment helps prevent congestion by expanding existing road space and capacity, while supporting faster transit and carpool/vanpool usage. To implement this, it also helps to eliminate large trucks 600.