Current Problems
"Congestion is relatively easy to recognize—roads filled with cars, trucks, and buses, sidewalks filled with pedestrians. The definitions of the term congestion mention such words as "clog," "impede," and "excessive fullness." For anyone who has ever sat in congested traffic, those words should sound familiar. In the transportation realm, congestion usually relates to an excess of vehicles on a portion of roadway at a particular time resulting in speeds that are slower—sometimes much slower—than normal or "free flow" speeds. Congestion often means stopped or stop-and-go traffic. The rest of this chapter is devoted to describing congestion and how we measure it, as well as its causes and consequences."
-- Federal Highway Administration
Boston is notoriously known to be one of the most congested cities across the United States. In 2014 alone, individual commuters annually spent over 57.6 hours (approximately 2.5 days) stuck in traffic, nearly twice of what it was thirty years ago. Statistically, Boston commuters had also spent 28% more time in traffic than others, a 3% increase from years prior and nearly doubling from 30 years ago. These 154 million hours of additional travel time due to travel inconveniences resulted in over 72 million gallons of extra fuel consumption.
Boston commuters who take their own cars to work or school have to experience large amounts of congestion to get to their destination. The problem of congestion is largely important, especially in the greater Boston areas like the Fenway neighborhood. People can't access their work spaces quickly, commuters can't reach their destination as effectively, and overall provides a negative expedience for all Boston consumers.
Accidents: No one can fully erase human error, and the more cars you have congested in an area the higher the chances something could go wrong. Many vehicle incidents have been caused due to human error over the machines themselves malfunctioning. Not only will these accidents interrupt other commuters on similar paths, it is also increases the risks of others getting injured and even killed at times.
Most injuries in Boston are caused by "Transportation Accidents," including incidents involving car, bike, bus, train, or pedestrian collisions.
Delays: Traffic congestion can cause major stress for people; delays can cause people to be late for both school and work. Not only are mornings hard, rush hour is just as frustrating to commuters. Mentioned previously, Boston commuters waste a lot of unnecessary time stuck in traffic, not only ruining their private schedules but also decreasing the amount of time they could have spent working or relaxing with others.
Emergency Vehicles: In an emergency situation, an emergency vehicle would struggle to respond in time if high amounts of traffic were present. It is crucial for life-saving vehicles like ambulances and police cars to report to a scene as soon as possible, as it could mean life or death. With crowded streets, large vehicles often get stuck in heavy traffic, especially when there is very little space for other vehicles to more to.
Pollution: The more time spent on traffic on the road only results in excess amounts of fuel being used, and in large amounts can have major effects on the environment. Areas with high congestion also report with higher rates of chronic diseases caused by certain chemicals being released constantly within the air. A slow system will only negatively impact consumers, forcing them to pay more money for more fuel that shouldn't be needed.
