Lesson 2:

Causes of Traffic Congestion

What you should know by the end of this lesson:

The main causes of traffic congestion within Edinburgh.

Current Congestion

Edinburgh traffic report | TomTom Traffic IndexFree access to live traffic data and TomTom Traffic Index congestion statistics for Edinburgh. Check out live and typical traffic in Edinburgh.

The need for change

Edinburgh Complete Worksheets

Understanding the causes of a problem is the first step in helping to find the strategies which can reduce their impact.

Digital Workbook and Paper Jotter

Take notes on the main causes of traffic disruption within Edinburgh
Add diagrams or small scale pictures to help remember each one.

Increased care ownership

Huge increase in traffic volume is directly related to car ownership. In 1991, 53% of households had access to 1 car, in 2020 84% of households have access to 2 cars.

This is linked to a high disposable income.

Service Busses

The rapid rise in service buses in the 1990s, especially in the CBD. Edinburgh has many tourist buses that cause congestion, particularly in the Royal Mile. 4,000 buses travel along Princes Street each day! These busses stop and start all the time for letting people on or off.

Increased Lorry Transport

As rail freight has decreased in importance, the number and size of lorries travelling through the city have greatly increased. They are travelling on old roads with poor surfaces and narrow widths, which combine with on-street parking to deliver to slow traffic flow.

Bridge Bottle Necks

The River Forth Estuary and its bridges are points of serious bottlenecks during peak times. Air pollution at the CBD edges is above acceptable limits.

In 2015 over 264,000 people were employed in the city with third commuting from outside the city. This means that commuting numbers are huge as people travel in from dormitory villages in Fife, the Lothians, and the Borders.

Edinburgh Complete Worksheets

Understanding the causes of a problem is the first step in helping to find the strategies which can reduce their impact.

Digital Workbook and Paper Jotter

Read through the remainder of the causes of traffic congestion from the information sheet.
Highlight the key points from each section to get a full idea of the causes of traffic congestion.
Answer the questions below in your jotter as fully as possible.

Questions

1.Why have the number of lorries on the roads increased? What causes this to be a problem? (2)

2.What method of transport do tourists use? Why is this a problem? (2)

3.What is the increase in traffic volume directly related to? (1)

4.Why is the Gyle Shopping centre an issue? (1)

5.What are the problems caused by the bridges? (2)

6.What are the problems at Edinburgh’s outer edges? (see bullet point 4 to help with this) (2)