The Benefits of Traffic Congestion

  Automobiles being the most used form of transportation in our everyday lives. Whether it be cars we own privately or a taxi that we pay a fare to be transported from point A to B by a driver. The number of cars presently within the urban cities are great.  With constrained amounts of space available for the continuously increasing numbers of automobiles the result is traffic congestion. According to Wikipedia, "Traffic congestion is a condition on road networks that occurs as use increases, and is characterized by slower speeds, longer trip times, and increased vehicular queuing." There are great amount of negative factors associated with traffic congestion. Firstly it wastes time, tests patience of the individual forced to wait in the congestion. It puts a strain on the drivers pocket, while sitting in traffic for long periods of time the idling car burns a significant amount of gas. So more gas is being used to go less of a distance and the driver now has to purchase gas sooner than they would have originally planned to. Another factor is the car exhaust emissions that persons are exposed to during traffic. "Recently, a committee of experts summarized the epidemiological literature available on the exposure to traffic generated air pollution and adverse health effects. They found strong evidence for the causative role for traffic- related air pollution on morality, particularly from cardiovascular events," (Levy 2010).

 According to Taylor "Cities exist because they promote social interactions and the economic transactions. Traffic congestion occurs where lots of people pursue these ends simultaneously in limited spaces.” This is true for Port of Spain which can be referred to as the CBD Central Business District of Trinidad and Tobago. Yes traffic congestion has a wide range of negative factors but amidst all of the negative must lie some form of positive.

While sitting in traffic I took this picture because I wanted to discuss maybe the only positive thing that comes out of it, socialization. Traffic congestion encourages socialization amongst individuals. While sitting the car on your way to your destination on an even longer journey than you intended for it to be it can get pretty boring. This is where socialization comes in. Whether it be in the car with people you know or in a maxi/bus with a stranger people are encouraged to socialize. The long journey persuades persons to indulge in conversations with strangers which they normally would not have done in a situation where the traffic slow was fast paced. On a number of occasions while travelling I have had persons start conversations with me and actually enjoyed some of the conversations. In a developed world where most people have their heads buried in their cellular devices or some other form of hand held technology at all times it seems as though no one really takes the time to meet new people and have conversations in real life anymore. The city is so vibrant with a constant hustle and bustle and no time in between for people to get to know one another even though the city is supposed to be built for social interaction.The traffic jam may just be the ideal location to meet someone new. So next time you are sitting in traffic try putting down the phone and saying hi to the person next to you.

Reference:

Taylor, B. D. (n.d.). Rethinking Traffic Congestion. Retrieved April 2, 2016, from http://www.bibme.org/apa/website-citation/new

 Levy, J. I., Bounocore, J. J., & Stackelberg, K. V. (2010). Evaluation of the public health impacts of traffic congestion: A health risk assessment. Environmental Health, 9(65). doi:doi: 10.1186/1476-069X-9-65