Mini-CBDs In Satellite Towns To Ease Traffic Jams

Source : The Straits Times, Forum, Sep 3, 2007

IS ELECTRONIC road pricing (ERP) a solution to the congestion problem? On the surface, yes. It seems to change traffic patterns whenever new gantries are introduced, but only temporarily.

The bottlenecks do not disappear, they simply move around or come back later, and we have a scenario of more new gantries chasing after new bottlenecks.

What really contributes to the congestion is that too many vehicles go in the same direction at the same time.

By introducing more and more gantries on the road, drivers will�get used to paying ERP eventually.

The Land Transport Authority cannot solve the congestion problem alone. It requires the �integrated efforts of many other agencies.

For example, traffic conditions will improve if traffic can be redirected so it does not all flow in the same direction at the same time, especially into the Central Business District (CBD).

Why do so many vehicles move along the same routes at the same time? Because most are going to their driver's workplace. So there is a�convergence of traffic flowing into the CBD.

This is where town planners can help.

Satellite towns are mostly clusters of residential units and shops or shopping centres. Where are most office buildings? In the CBD.

If we build more office buildings in and around the satellite towns, and discourage new ones in the CBD, some of the traffic flow will be reversed and directed away from the city area.

If the satellite towns can be more integrated with not just residential units and shopping units but also office buildings, there will be a scattering of satellite business districts - some sort of mini-CBDs - away from the CBD in different parts of the island. Then people will move in different directions to their workplace.

Is the idea workable? I will leave it to the experts.

My point is, to alleviate traffic congestion, we need to get to the root�of the problem, and not move the bottlenecks around.

Tan Thiam Soon