The Five Pillars of Traffic Management Systems

October 26th, 2021

A healthy and efficient urban environment can have a massive positive impact to the quality of life to the people who live in it. When considering your traffic system management, paying close attention to these five traffic management pillars will give you a strong base to create the smooth urban operation you want.

Traffic Engineering

This pillar is essentially the design behind the physical function of your roads. Traffic engineering encompasses traffic signal design, road signs, centre islands, road markings, and more.

The organisation of these factors contributes to a couple of key things. Firstly, the way your road is engineered can go a long way to prevent accidents, increasing safety by organising the road in such a way that it’s easily readable for drivers. Secondly, these engineering decisions can have major effects on the efficiency of your roads, increasing traffic flow, and thereby reducing travel times.

Traffic Education

Traffic education is the pillar that relates to the average driver’s skill level when making driving decisions. The education process will often start from a young age when people get their licenses and learn the road rules through a formal tested setting. Traffic education does not stop there however, as tools like instructional videos or educational signs on the roads can play a large part in forming and maintaining safe and efficient driving habits. Keeping traffic education levels high is important to reducing accidents and improving efficiency, keeping the roads safer.

This point is also especially important to consider when thinking about updates to the road rules. Many older drivers can be unaware that the road rules can and sometimes have changed, as they’re not required to keep up to date with traffic education. This is why updating signage to highlight areas that may have undergone updated rules, such as roundabouts, is so important.

Traffic Enforcement

Law enforcement agencies will be the primary organisations involved when applying traffic enforcement. Police can make arrests, issue tickets & warnings, and provide education with the intended outcome of discouraging violations of road rules and preventing dangerous driving. Holding drivers to the laws of the roads will also serve to increase safety and the efficiency of the roads, just like the points above.

Traffic Ecology

Traffic ecology is the effect that traffic systems and management have on our health, immediate environment, and climate. When installing a road or traffic hub, close attention must be paid to the way it will affect population growth, air quality, and emissions. For example, when designing a traffic system within an enclosed urban area, consideration must be given to how the fumes from the vehicles will affect the people living in the area. Or if a road is being built through an area with vulnerable wildlife, then care must be taken to mitigate any poor outcomes to the surrounding habitat.

Traffic Economy

The fifth pillar is traffic economy, which relates to how a traffic system will affect the economic prosperity of an area, and the wider implications on product pricing and supply. If an area is significantly congested with traffic this can have a considerable effect on things such as the productivity of people getting to work or businesses being able to receive their essential supplies. An uncongested traffic system can improve the economic value of an area ensuring worker and supply access for businesses.