Urban Problems in Developed World Traffic issues: Roads influence land zoning, & affect the shape & direction of urban expansion. 3 main factors influencing traffic movt & congestion are: *Street pattern*Pattern of traffic movt*Traffic control Street Pattern: Unplanned streets: Older parts of cities street narrow, unplanned & winding. Problem with on street parking & footpaths..E.g. Wexford. Unplanned older streets meet at irregular angles… problem for heavy traffic turning corners. Off street parking & multi-storey car parks reduces congestion. One way system required. Street parking on one side only.

Planned Streets: Planned rectangular form….grid pattern E.g. Limerick. Wide streets, allows for on street parking & easy one way flow system. Patterns of movement: 2 main categories A Traffic into & within CBD & suburban downtowns B. Traffic within & between suburbs. A (above) is usually to work & school…. rush hour traffic, morning & evening…. extreme congestion… traffic jams. Added to by urban sprawl & car ownership. B (above) is movt from home to suburban downtowns & leisure centres/schools. Weekend movt often from cities to suburbs or to rural areas & leisure activities.

New motorways & ring roads improve traffic movt. Public transport by bus, DART & LUAS & new port tunnel help to ease traffic congestion. Traffic control: Multi-storey parking, widen streets (urban renewal), parking zones(disc & meter), one way streets, restricted turns off roads, clearways & video camera monitoring with computerised traffic lights. Ring roads keep traffic from CBD, flyovers & river tunnels help avoid delays. E.g. Cork Dev. n efficient integrated public transport system with bus lanes & rail links.

Dublin Traffic : Case Study a 43% increase in cars on the road…up 160,000. Travel time increased & 80% of cars have only one person. Road transport: Public service vehicles = 2% as opposed to 79% cars. Promotion of walking, cycling & use of DART, LUAS & bus. Quality bus corridors (QBCs) & dev. airport link. Congestion costing 500m per year. National roads authority responsible for road management. Involves public/private partnership. Toll charges to recoup dev. costs

Dublin Transport office (DTO) set up in 1995…. aim of strategic land use & plan traffic flow. Found growth in car ownership, number of households & pop meant transport projections were outdated. Result was huge increase in traffic volumes. DTO aims 1)to reduce growth in travel from private to public transport Integrated transport system reached by walking max of ten mins. Traffic & parking policies which restrict use of private cars Improve freight transport to ports & airport. Good quality cycle & pedestrian facilities. Expand the M50

2. Expand public transport network & strategic road dev. Quality Bus Corridors DART & suburban rail links Luas A Metro Park & Ride facilities Quality cycle routes. Four strategic corridors of national primary roads (motorway) to link Dublin to Cork, Sligo, Limerick, Belfast & Waterford…. Set up under National Roads Authority.

Urban Planning & Renewal Limerick city: Limerick Corporations strategic dev. Plan…. Transport management: aimed to integrate transport needs in the city Built 2 new bridges, Shannon & Abbey… part of northern ring road to connect Ennis & Dublin road. Completed a southern ring road to serve sth west. Completed an inner and outer ring road for the city. Built 5 new multi-storey car parks… reduce on street parking Introduced disc parking & mobile top up parking. Computerised traffic lights system to aid flow of traffic. Introduced cycle paths and new bus lanes. One way systems and pedestrianised streets for safety.

Paris : Case study Transport: efficient underground rail service (metro), integrated with RER & TGV. Planned city with wide streets & a ring road & motorway access..… capable of handling large volumes. Arc de Triomphe centre of main avenues…. Its roundabout has 12 radiating routes… congestion. Urban decay & redevelopment: Many aging ind. areas with poor overcrowded accomm. Renewal by building social housing La Defense… financial centre an effort to renew the city… attract workers, residents & create jobs. 8 new suburban downtowns dev. … create employ, new housing & reduce commuter traffic. E.g.. Les Halles

6 new towns dev. outside city… attract pop away from city. E.g. Marne-le-Valee 8 growth centres selected to reduce dominance of Paris, with road & rail links to each one.