Writing report

Urban areas are often associated with overpopulation, and one of the most severe consequences of this problem is gridlock. Fortunately, there are a number of solutions that can be considered to alleviate the situation. Addressing the issue on the city-level can be a good initiative. First, more fund should be allocated to improve the infrastructure. Surveys have shown that poor road conditions can impede traffic flow by 30%, hence fixing those problems can make a huge difference. In addition, the money can be used to increase public transport accessibility, thus reducing the number of private vehicles, which contributes significantly to traffic jams. Moreover, investments to improve walkability should be considered. This can have considerable effect, as San Francisco, a city with one of the highest population density in the world, achieves a very low road congestion index thanks to the high percentage of people who walk to work. Funds can be utilized to build pavements and trees, which encourage citizens to go on foot to enjoy the scenery, or even help relocate people who wish to stay closer to their workplace to reduce commute. However, if these measures prove insufficient, there might be a need to legislate on a countrywide scale. One option is to introduce stricter laws to decrease the rate of traffic accidents, which have been proved to rise congestion probability up to 40% in big cities. Therefore, inducing heavier fines on breaking traffic rules to mitigate these incidents can attribute to a huge rise in road accessibility. Furthermore, the government can consider the development of satellite cities - smaller urban areas surrounding a larger metropolis. Each smaller city focuses on only one designated industry, and contains all the necessary public facilities, thus encouraging workers to move with their whole family to the area dedicated to their career, thereby lowering the need to commute and the severity of gridlocks. This has been successfully implemented in China with satellite cities around Shanghai helping to reduce the rate of traffic jams in the area by 25%. In conclusion, there are various solutions that can improve the road congestion problem in metropolises on various levels. Governments should invest more into these problems to improve the livelihoods and happiness of the inhabitants.