Traffic solution
Note: I have done absolutely no research on this topic. I just think that it is worth looking into.
The Texas Department of Transportation won’t allow me to mount a rocket launcher on my car so I am interested in finding another way to deal with traffic.
Major roads in Houston are constantly being widened. When the construction is done everyone is surprised that the traffic isn’t moving any faster. Building a wider road does absolutely nothing (for traffic anyways, the contractors sure do get paid well, though). The problem is that you still have to get off of the road at a choke point, the exit, and there’s always some asshole there fucking things up for the rest of us. In Dallas they don’t even wait until the exit to screw things up - I don’t think there was a single afternoon commute down I30 where at least one lane wasn’t taken out by a stalled car.
The problem with traffic isn’t caused as much by crap roads as it is by crap drivers.
I had to take a written and a practical test to get my driver’s license - 20 years ago. Since then all I’ve needed to renew my license is $10 and a face to take a picture of. The original testing wasn’t especially difficult either. I only met one person who ever had to retake the test. I know of nobody that never passed.
I propose implementing a testing system that will take the worst 20% of drivers off of the road. If Pareto Principle holds true, this should eliminate 80% of the traffic problems that we suffer from. Maybe not that much in actuality, but I would think that you could make traffic 50% better.
Testing needs to be tough. What I took qualified me to drive on suburban streets to get to the grocery store and back. I think that it should take dedicated study for a year or more, and testing lasting a full day or more. Besides the usual “rules of the road” questions it needs to cover general auto maintenance and emergency response. Think of how much traffic could be eliminated if some people had been taught that engines need oil changes on a regular basis.
The overall idea of this testing is to make sure that the worst 20% of potential drivers are not allowed to do so. I know that this sounds harsh. In America we like to think of the right to drive. I think that you should be allowed to take the test as often as you want (although there should be a steep fee for the test, to keep people from going in without adequate preparation). But if it comes down to it the people who can’t pass a thorough driving test need to try some car pooling or the bus, in the interest of improving traffic overall.
After the testing you need some kind of transponder system. Some sort of radio beacon needs to be installed in each car, and it needs to be keyed so that only a licensed driver can activate it. A system of sensors is needed, both stationary checkpoints as well as mobile units in police cars. The ultimate goal of this is to quickly identify vehicles being driven by unlicensed drivers. I think we have the necessary technical knowhow to implement something like this in the very near future.
Fines and prison would serve to deal with those who hack transponder systems.
Renewing a license should require follow-on testing. Traffic violations should count against license renewal. Bad enough violations could result in license removal.
# Matt on April 8th, 2008
Test comment.