New York Traffic Now Ranks Fifth On The Top Ten List For Worst Traffic In The USA

By Etta Bowen


Road rage due to traffic jams is not a new phenomenon to New Yorkers. Commuters in the City Of Dreams now annually waste approximately 53 hours being stuck behind the wheel due to road congestion. Economic growth and prosperity also earned the Big Apple another distinction - that of being dubbed one of the worst traffic cities in America. New York traffic now ranks fifth on the Top Ten list for worst traffic in the USA.

Stress, frustration and road rage due to over-crowded roads are some of the negative side-effects of modern times. Few things are more stressful and frustrating than missing a deadline or an important event or meeting due to being stuck in slow-moving traffic. It is thus small wonder that commuters these days shoot, attack and kill one another for the slightest provocation.

Over-crowded roads that bring traffic to a standstill has become a serious international problem. Despite various costly and innovative efforts to combat it, the problem seems to grow worse as more and more people move to the cities in order to earn a better living. In most countries, public transport and lift clubs seem to be ineffective and/or inadequate to curb the increasing number of vehicles that flood the roads.

In a world where time equals money, the wastage of productive time due to congested roads has huge financial implications. This leads to stress and frustration, which in turn trigger serious health problems. Road rage has become a common part of modern life and incidents where commuters kill, maim or attack each other over trivial issues are rife.

The emotional, physical and psychological effect of over-crowded roads and traffic jams are rife and increasing on a world wide scale. Newspaper reports and cases of road rage have become part of society and city life's daily toils and turmoils.

Attempts to motivate commuters to travel in groups or via public transport and to use alternative, less congested routes, are mostly futile due to a lack of compensation or proper motivation. Most people prefer to travel with his/her own car via the shortest routes to save time and petrol. It seems that law enforced tolling systems whereby commuters are forced to pay for less congested roads are the only workable and sustainable solution at this stage.

Motivating commuters to use public transport and lift clubs, and to use alternative routes to alleviate peak hour traffic on over-crowded highways, is not a viable solution. People don't like change and will always try to find the shortest route to their destination to save time and petrol. Road pricing seems to be one of the only possible solutions to New York's traffic problems.

The fact that such anti-congestion tolling systems have proven to work in some cities such as London, does not necessarily mean it will be equally successful in other cities. Any campaign aimed at raising public support for such a system will have to focus on switching public opinion where it matters, namely offering tangible advantages to the commuters.




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