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ROAD PRICING
1. What are bus lanes? Do you think buses should be given priority on roads inside cities? 2. Which means of transport do you choose to move inside the city? What decides about 3. Point out three areas or places close to your university where traffic jams occur. Is the 4. Are there any bus lanes in those places? Do they help buses move faster? 5. Who is permitted to use bus lanes? 6. Read the headline of the article below. Does it suggest: · an idea of valuing roads (deciding how much they are worth)? · that users should pay? (who? how much? for what?)
Many bus lanes have been installed in the wrong locations where roads are wide enough to accommodate them without causing traffic congestion. That is precisely where they are not needed. Bus priority is needed only where and when there is traffic congestion. The most likely reason for installing so many of them in wrong places is that it is politically much easier: there will be no objections from motorists and at the same time it will be claimed that something is being done for the buses. Other highway authorities have put bus lanes where they are useful, many of them at junctions or on busy radial roads operating at peak hours only. Bus priority in such location is usually limited in extent. The problem with bus lanes is that they are useful only where there is traffic congestion and if bus lanes are installed in such circumstances they will make the congestion worse. Except under the unlikely condition that motorists transfer to buses to such an extent that there is a reduction in demand for road space which is greater than the reduction caused by the bus lanes. Therefore, it will be quite common for the passenger-carrying capacity of the road to be reduced where bus lanes have been installed. The only circumstances where it will not be reduced are where buses are carrying more passengers than would cars on the roads pace allocated to the bus lanes. For this to occur, bus services would have to be frequent and should move at typical speeds in congested road conditions. It is possible in large cities, where radial roads near the centre have bus service carrying at least as many passengers as would cars on the same roads pace. These problems are the result of bus lanes being used exclusively by buses or nearly so. Use by emergency vehicles will make no significant difference to capacity. Use by cyclists and motorcyclists might cause more disruption to the buses than can be justified by the small number of the users. The solution to these problems is to allow other traffic to use the bus lanes in amounts insufficient to impede the buses. Highway authorities are soon to be given powers to introduce road pricing. This would have several benefits: · for motorists, pricing of bus lanes would give them the opportunity to buy priority if they wish (but would not compel them to) · for bus users, it would help to make it politically feasible to put bus lanes where they are needed · for the public at large, it would raise some revenue providing finance for extending the bus priority network which should help change the attitude towards public transport with environmental consequences · for visitors who do not have the appropriate pass to use the priced roads. Bus lanes combined with road pricing are solutions to excessive traffic. Implementing road pricing offers an opportunity to reduce the problems which have been associated with bus priority.
7. Match the pairs so that they make true statements. 1) If emergency vehicles are permitted to use bus lanes 2) If cyclists or motorists are allowed to use bus lanes 3) If motorists can buy priority to use bus lanes a) it will possibly cause more disruption to buses b) it will make no difference to road capacity c) it will take some traffic from the other lanes, reducing congestion
8. Choose the best answer. 1) Bus lanes installed on wide roads a) help reduce congestion. b) are not really needed. c) make the passenger-carrying capacity of the road larger. 2) Bus lanes installed at junctions or on busy roads a) enlarge the road capacity b) reduce the congestion c) reduce the road capacity 3) Introducing road pricing a) Will possibly be objected by motorists b) Will increase the road capacity c) Will cause problems for visitors without the appropriate pass
9. Find the words hidden in the jumbles.
10. Complete the sentences with the correct form of the word in capitals.
11. Substitute the words in italics with their synonyms from the list below.
Example: They intend to carry out these useful solutions in order to make the whole system work better. (implement) a) They have promised to make public expenditure smaller. b) We have just fitted central heating in the house. c) The choice of cars was very small. d) Such harsh dilemmas force us to face facts and make a choice. e) The government cannot supply all young people with a job. f) More careful irrigation control is necessary in this region. g) We have well developed marketing systems.
12. Fill the correct prepositions in. a) The traffic lights have been installed _______ wrong location. b) Buses cant move _______ typical speed because _______ congestion. c) Do you often go _______ work _______ bus? d) There was a car crash _______ the junction and the traffic was blocked _______ half an hour. e) Traffic jams are quite common here _______ peak hours. f) Buying a faster car will make no significant difference _______ the speed _______ moving inside the city. g) It might be more convenient _______ motorists to leave their cars _______ the city centers. h) Authorities should do something to change peoples attitude _______ public transport.
13. Find the odd word out. Justify your answer. Example: bus, bicycle, car, train, taxi. (bicycle it doesnt have an engine) a) Passenger, driver, cyclist, motorist, motorcyclist; b) Red, blue, green, yellow. c) Go by, take, buy, wait for, get on; d) Traffic lights, junction, lane, speed, road; e) Drive, cycle, stop, move, go. BEATING A BOTTLENECK
1.Compare a bottom diameter of a bottle and a diameter of its neck. How does this narrowing (necking) function when you fill a bottle and when you empty it? How does a similar narrowing (called a bottleneck) of a road influence traffic flow? 2.Can you give any examples of bottlenecks in or close to Kyiv? What are the possible solutions to this problem? 3.Read the texts. Complete the following table with the information from the text.
New highway project near the battered Lebanese capital will ease congestion and hopefully boost tourism. Since the end of the war in Lebanon in 1990, the country has started a massive redevelopment program. One of the priorities is the construction of infrastructure, particularly in and around the capital, Beirut, where about a third of the country's three million people live and work. For the majority the car is the principle means of transport. A key arterial road carries commuter and commercial traffic north from Beirut. The existing dual carriageway has three lanes in each direction, but a hindrance to smooth traffic flow is a 40-year-old narrow tunnel with two lanes either way. This short tunnel is the only route through a rock outcrop and is a serious bottleneck. The volume of traffic along the route is estimated at over 200,000 vehicles per day. The situation will be eased following completion of the first stage of the planned work, namely the 4km long section which includes a new road around the existing tunnel. The project is for the construction of new carriageways and rehabilitation of existing lanes to provide a four-lane, dual carriageway, involving many bridges and underpasses, and four major intersections. When the new lanes are opened, traffic will be diverted from the existing carriageways which will be rehabilitated and upgraded. The new highway will eventually be extended a further 15 km. Most of the bridges are founded on 800mm diameter reinforced concrete piles. The bridges are precast girders, prestressed on the ground and lifted into position by mobile cranes. The deck is an 8mm thick precast concrete slab forming part of the main deck poured above. This method was adapted to maximize on time and save on formwork. The total project has over 40,000sqm of formed concrete structures. Germanys site of the century The A 81 Heilbronn to Stuttgart motorway runs through the oldest tunnels in Germany, the Engelberg tunnel, built between 1935 and 1938. Increasing traffic flows have led to the tunnel becoming a permanent bottleneck, unable to cope with the 120,000vpd using the motorway. A project currently underway and described as Germanys site of the century, will replace the existing tunnels with a new twin-tube structure running at a lower level the Engelberg Base Tunnels. The new tunnel is 2500m long and has a longitudinal gradient of only 0.9% - compared to the steep 6% gradient in the existing tunnels. Excavation is proceeding using the New Austrian Tunneling Method. Altogether the project involves the construction of 8.5km of new sixlane motorway and six new bridges, with the requirement that four lanes are available for traffic at all times during construction. Most of the spoil excavated from the tunnel is being re-used on site to form embankments and noise-reducing screen as well as backfill for temporary haul roads, ramps and diversionary routes. But before being re-used, it has to be stabilized by the incorporation of lime. The total construction value of the project is about DM 604 million (US $410 million).
4.Answer the following questions: a) How many people live and work in Beirut? b) What is their principle means of transport? c) How long is the new Engelberg Tunnel? d) What requirement has to be fulfilled during construction of the new tunnel? e) When will the condition of the existing carriageways north from Beirut be improved? f) What is the total cost of the project near Stuttgart?
5.Find the words hidden in the jumbles.
6.Match the two parts to make collocations.
7.Put the collocations from Exercise 6 into the following sentences. a) To , they plan to build a new around the city. b) The term describes the number of going through the tunnel c) As soon as the new motorway is completed, will be directed to it. d) of the new project includes a bridge across the Vistula. e) The fastest that can take you to the airport is underground. f) The is disturbed by road works at Junction 63. g) The old bridge was replaced by a new structure of h) Road planners think of a system of new as a solution to the traffic problems.
8.Put the verb into the correct tense form (Simple or Continuous). Translate the sentences. a) When I (to see) a loaded boat, it (to move) in the direction of the port and the manager (to be) there to meet it. b) The car (to move) at full speed when the policeman (to stop) it. c) Dont bother him! He (to work) on the design of a new motor car. d) Stoppage of fuel supply (to cause) serious trouble in the engine last night, so I (to go) to the filling station. e) Designers and engineers usually (to work) together to identify and fulfill needs, wants and expectations of the buyer. f) As for me, I (to want) to solve the main problems of form and engineering of a car, so I (to enter) this university and (to choose) this profession. g) My parents usually (to go) to work by bus, but now my elder brother (to drive) them there. They (to feel) very angry as the traffic (to move / hardly). h) There (to be) a traffic jam in the street at the moment. Many people (to try) to get to their work. They all (to work) in the city but few of them (to live) there. i) While my father (to repair) his car last morning, my brother and I (to improve) the interior of it. Everybody (to like) our work. j) As far as I know, the top designer of our company (to deliver) a lecture about the connections between product and the user at 4p.m. tomorrow. Will you join me there?
Date: 2015-01-29; view: 1039
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