What REALLY Causes Traffic Backups?

When people first learned from the New York Post that city officials intentionally slow Midtown traffic, they were skeptical. Now, it appears there is some truth to the reason behind the traffic tie-ups.

The current spate of gridlock is brought to New Yorkers courtesy of the Bloomberg and de Blasio administrations. The effort has taken more than ten years of redesigning streets, cutting pedestrian/bicycle paths through some of the city’s busiest intersections and making life miserable for drivers.

The hope is those grid-locked vehicle operators will turn to mass transit — or bicycles.

“The traffic is engineered,” a former top NYC cop told the New York Post. “City streets are being engineered to create traffic congestion.”

There are many cars on the streets and city officials have been encouraging bicycle use in hopes that the city’s congestion problems will be handled. Everyone will breathe fewer pollutants and be better off. So claims the traffic authorities.

New York residents are calling “hogwash” on the claim.

While some say, cars are not the villain most understand that mass transit isn’t the savior either. According to the NYPost, observers are calling for a balanced transportation system. Despite the voices of reason, there are many who believe reactivating unused rights-of-way are too expensive.

What will happen in three or four decades when the trees planted in tiny center malls grow and become obstacles? The city may have to destroy them or just turn the avenue into a pedestrian mall and ban traffic entirely.

The reality is simple. Traffic congestion is created by numerous causes and here are a few:

1. Too many cars on the road.
2. Roadway obstacles which cause blockages such as:

• Double parking
• Road work
• Utility work
• Accidents

3. Out of sync traffic signals.
4. Insufficient “green light time.”
5. Too many pedestrians crossing at intersections

So, who is to blame?

It could be the driver who refused to take mass transit even though that would make more sense. That could be the exception to the rule as people tend to do what makes the most sense for them.

Occasionally DOT is to blame for making the green lights out of sync — deliberately.

It even could be the MTA in its failure to do everything it could to improve bus service inside — and outside the city.

The answers to New York City’s traffic problems are out there, and it could “take a village” to solve them.