St. Louis Post-Dispatch
October 9, 1993, SATURDAY, FIVE STAR Edition
LETTERS FROM THE PEOPLE
As a traffic engineer, I am urging St. Louis to say no to
the newest fad sweeping the urban landscape, IVHS (Intelligent Vehicle/Highway Systems). Most of the improvements suggested with an
IVHS system have not worked in other urban areas and will not work in St. Louis
or any other metropolis.
The rationale behind them is inherently flawed.
One such IVHS technology is ramp metering. Urban areas with
ramp metering, such as Chicago and Los Angeles, still have chronic traffic
congestion; obviously, ramp metering has not been very successful. Further,
ramp metering is dangerous, as vehicles entering from a metered ramp must enter
the flow of traffic from a virtual dead stop. One of the greatest hazards on
urban freeways is differences in speed; ramp metering exacerbates this
problem.
Another IVHS solution is HOV (high-occupancy vehicle) lanes,
which are lanes set aside for vehicles with more than one person (usually three
or more). The theory behind HOV lanes is that those who refuse to carpool will
be punished by sitting in traffic while watching those who do carpool pass by,
and thus will be encouraged to carpool so that they too will be able to travel
unencumbered by traffic congestion. Of course, this theory assumes that
carpooling is an option for everyone and that people drive by themselves as a
matter of choice. This theory is severely flawed, as for many, carpooling (or
mass transit) is not an option.
In some urban areas where HOV lanes have been installed,
violation rates run as high as 50 percent. The worst aspect of HOV lanes is
that most are built with public funds, which should not be allowed, as these
lanes discriminate against those who cannot carpool. Why should tax money be
used to build facilities that are not accessible to all?
The alternate routing schemes proposed by IVHS backers can
only work where there are a large number of undercapacity alternate routes. In
the suburbs of St. Louis, where congestion is the worst, there are few
alternate routes, and those that exist are as congested as the freeways.
The solution to congestion begins with the expansion of
MetroLink along heavily travel led corridors, such as I-270. Staggered work
hours also help reduce congestion by reducing the number of vehicles on the
roads at peak periods and increasing the number of vehicles on the roads during
off-peak periods.
Any new developments should be evaluated not only for their local affect, but for their regional effect.
Michael H. Schrader Farmington, Mo.