Traffic, a problem that affects every body.
In Spain, there are 27,657,276 vehicles in the whole country. 58,248 vehicles are
driven on motorways.
At the moment, there are 165,646 kms of motorways and the number of people who
use the car has increased 46.74 % in the last 15 years. For this reason, there are
problems for people.
Traffic is the third problem that worries people, because this problem affects the
environment, produces acoustic pollution (Spain is the noisiest country after Japan).
This problem exists all over Europe.
Traffic accidents:
In Spain there are a lot of traffic accidents that can be mortal for people. Despite the
solutions that the government applies, the death rate is very high, especially at the
beginning of holidays.
The cause of this problem is high speed. In Spain the speed limit is 120 km/h, but many
people drive at 140 km/h and over.
Pollution:
In Spanish cities, for example Madrid or Barcelona, the particle pollution level in the air
exceeds what is stipulated by the E.U. and it is a dangerous level for health.
This problem is increasing more and more and it is necessary for the government to
apply solutions. In summer, pollution increases incredibly, because there are a lot of
cars on the highways, especially in August.
In 2008, 1,236 million tons were emitted by Spain, 46% more than the E.U. stipulated
for 2010.
Pollution produces 1,600 premature deaths each year. 35 % of Spanish people (16
million people) breathe polluted air according to SEPAR.
In the cities, the acoustic pollution grows because of the increase of the traffic in the
streets. The levels can reach 100 dB of noise. It causes serious physical and
psychological problems, for example, headaches, less audition, some heart problems,
and so on.
In addition to causing attention and concentration problems, it produces anxiety,
insomnia and sleep disturbances, aggression, stress and irritability.
In Saragossa, in the last three years there has been a serious traffic problem in the city
streets. In the city there are places where 100,000 cars are driven, for example in
Paraíso and Europa square.
This problem doesn’t improve, because a lot of people need a car to go to work every
day, because on the buses there are a lot of people, and it produces long delays.
Furthermore, there are big quantities of cars that are driven along thestreets. Other
causes of the traffic problem are the few solutions and road works ever present in the
city streets.
This increase of cars produces a lot of acoustic pollution and it causes problems in
people, like fatigue or psychological changes.
The use of cars produces a big consumption of petrol, which is one of the most
important sources of global energy. It produces CO2 emissions. Each year the demand
for petrol increases and it will lead to the end of reserves. Nowadays the prices
increase 14 %+ each year.
The most feasible solution to traffic problems is to create more infrastructures for cars,
but this isn’t the best one, if more roads and motorways are built the number of
vehicles increases as well.
Another solution is the use of space in cars, for example, instead of taking our car and
drive to work alone, we should share it with more people. We could also do some
works to add new lanes, but this could be a medium term solution because it would
take a lot of money and time.
We can build walkways and bicycle lanes.
Other solutions:
-Forbid parking in certain areas.
- Better coordination of the traffic lights.
-Raise taxes on large vehicles.
-Exclusive lanes for buses.
For noise pollution, there are several solutions.
The most useful one is to develop an acoustic map and from there it may be done to
take defensive or preventive measures. This measure could create soundproofing
islands or black spots.
There are other solutions: to promote environmental education campaigns.
Use of surface absorbents, vibration isolators or resonators.
Incorporate these techniques only in theatres, cinemas and auditoriums.
Choose the right type of road construction in urban planning; do periodic services to
vehicles.
A solution for the excessive traffic in Zaragoza is the tram, but there are many people
who think it will be worse. Other solutions are to increase the availably and use of
public transport to relieve congestion; to build roads around the city centres to
encourage the use of bikes, and be provided by the council.
In short:
-In Spain there are a lot of accidents that can be mortal for people. The most important
cause of this problem is the high speed.
-In Spanish cities the particle pollution level in the air is too high and it is a dangerous
level for health.
-In summer, pollution increases incredibly, because there are a lot of cars on the
highways, especially in August.
-In the cities, acoustic pollution grows because of the increase in traffic in the streets.
-In Saragossa, in the last three years there has been a serious traffic problem in the city
streets. This problem doesn’t improve, because a lot of people need a car to go to
work every day, because there aren’t enough buses and this produces long delays.
-The use of cars produces a big consumption of petrol, which is one of the most
important sources of global energy. It produces the CO2 emissions. Each year the
demand of petrol increases and it will produce the end of the reserves. Nowadays
prices increase 14 %+ each year,
-There are other solutions, like to promote environmental education campaigns.
-A solution to the excessive traffic in Zaragoza is the tram, but there are many people
who think it will be worse. Other solutions are to increase the availably and use of
public transport, to relieve congestion, to build roads around the city centres, to
encourage the use of bikes provided by the council.
Links:
http://www.scalloway.org.uk/sett16.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traffic_congestion
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/traffic-congestion-in-europe-inrix-france-
traffic-scorecard-provides-revealing-look-at-traffic-congestion-in-cities-nationwide-
106594408.html
http://www.elpasotimes.com/communities/ci_16417595
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14690025