Study: bikes reduce traffic congestion
A new report from Europe shows that if 10 percent of car users changed to motorcycles, traffic congestion would be dramatically reducedNew research out of Brussels, Belgium, suggests that if there was a small shift in the commuter vehicles from cars to motorcycles, both traffic congestion and carbon emissions would be drastically reduced.
The study, conducted by Belgian company Transport & Mobility Lueven, was presented at the Association des Constructerurs Europeens de Motocycles, or ACEM, and suggested that if just 10 percent of private cars were swapped with motorcycles in a high traffic flow areas, commuting time could drop by as much as 40 percent.
The study hypothesised that if 25 percent of all car users in the traffic flow test area ditched their cars for motorcycles, congestion would be completely eliminated.
It's true that the 'traffic flow test area' used in Belgium, a stretch of highway, might be different to many other urban areas and cities around the world, the study is compelling.
It suggests that motorcycles and scooters can reduce congestion and save all commuters hundreds of hours of travel time over the course of a year. Anyone who has to sit in their car for more than an hour each day will know what it's like.
One of the major issues when it comes to traffic congestion are bottlenecks, as the report from Transport & Mobility Lueven explains: "The queues that develop at each bottleneck have different characteristics, which are dependent on local circumstances, such as the local traffic demand and the capacity of the local bottleneck and upstream road sections."
In other words, the ripple effect of bottlenecks becomes exponential if just one less car can get through. But with a scooter, for instance two or three individuals may be able to pass where similarly only one car would usually pass through a green filter arrow.
The Bikesales Network offices are located in Melbourne, where traffic is not as bad as Sydney, or many European or American cities for that mater, but we have seen an increase in travel times over the years that can be attributable to an increased number of cars on the road.
Below is the video conference of Isaak Yperman's report at the ACEM in Brussels.
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