Table Of ContentECONOMIC RESEARCH CENTRE
ECONOMIC PROBLEMS
OF TRAFFIC PEAKS
EUROPEAN CONFERENCE OF MINISTERS OF TRANSPORT
PARIS 1975
ECONOMIC RESEARCH CENTRE
REPORT OF
THE TWENTY-NINTH ROUND TABLE
ON TRANSPORT ECONOMICS
Held in Paris on 20th and 21st February 1975
on the following topic :
ECONOMIC PROBLEMS
OF TRAFFIC PEAKS
EUROPEAN CONFERENCE OF MINISTERS OF TRANSPORT
The European Conference'ofMinisters ofTransport (ECMT) was
instituted by a Protocol signed at Brussels on 17th October, 1953. It
comprises the Ministers of Transport of the following 18 countries:
Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy,
Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzer¬
land. Turkey, United Kingdom and Yugoslavia (associated countries :
Australia, Canada, Japan ; observer : UnitedStates).
The purposes ofthe ECMT are:
to take whatever measures may be necessary to achieve, at
general or regional level, the maximum use and most rational
development of European inland transport of international
importance;
to co-ordinate andpromote the activities ofInternational Orga¬
nisations concerned with European inland transport (rail, road,
navigable ways), taking into account the work ofsupranational
authorities in this field.
ECMT publications are marketed by the Sale of Publications
departmentoftheOECD,2,rueAndre-Pascal, 75775PARISCEDEX16.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. ECONOMIC PROBLEMS OF TRAFFIC PEAKS (cid:9) 6
1. The problem (cid:9) 6
2 . The human environment (cid:9) 8
3. The way of living (cid:9) 10
4. The allocation of time (cid:9) 12
a) Constraints (cid:9) 12
b) Periods (cid:9) 17
c) Possible solutions (cid:9) 20
5. Traffic peaks (cid:9) 24
a) Variations according to country (cid:9) 25
b) Transport costs (cid:9) 26
c) The function of transport (cid:9) 27
d) Pricing (cid:9) 29
e) Comfort (cid:9) 30
6. Seasonal traffic peaks (cid:9) 31
a) Urban traffic (cid:9) 31
b) Non-urban traffic (cid:9) 32
7. Weekly traffic peaks (cid:9) 33
a) Urban traffic (cid:9) 34
b) Non-urban traffic (cid:9) 34
8. Daily traffic peaks (cid:9) 36
a) Urban traffic (cid:9) 36
b) Non-urban traffic (cid:9) 39
c) Examples (cid:9) 44
II. SUMMARY OF THE DISCUSSION (cid:9) 47
(Round Table debate on the report)
1. Analysis of the peaks phenomenon (cid:9) 47
1.1. The nature and effects (cid:9) 47
1.2. Causes of the peaks phenomenon (cid:9) 51
1.3. Trends in the peaks phenomenon (cid:9) 53
2. Finding Solutions (cid:9) 54
2.1. Difficulties involved in staggering activities . . 55
2.2. Long-term measures (cid:9) 58
2.3. Short-term measures (cid:9) 60
Conclusion (cid:9) 72
LIST OF PARTICIPANTS (cid:9) 73
ECMT ECONOMIC RESEARCH CENTRE - FORTHCOMING PUBLICATIONS ... 76
ECONOMIC PROBLEMS OF TRAFFIC PEAKS
by
A. DE WAELE
Principal Administrator
E.C.M.T.
I. ECONOMIC PROBLEMS OF TRAFFIC PEAKS
1. THE PROBLEM
The Round Tables of the ECMT are a contribution from theory to
practice; their purpose is to bring out research findings which can
give some guidance for policy decisions. After a Round Table, there
should be a chance for a pragmatic discussion of realistic and con¬
crete measures .
Shaped in this light, the present paper attempts:
- to place the problem of traffic peaks in its context;
- to identify its economic aspects;
- to propose a range of possible improvements.
The purpose of the Round Table discussion is to amplify or
adjust the analysis and the proposals which follow from it.
Since a Round Table sets put the state of the art at a given
time, it is best to dispense with elaborate treatment of topics which
are already sufficiently familiar (e.g. the impact of traffic peaks
on urban traffic flow) and to refer to them only in context.
On the other hand, the many previous discussions on this theme
have shown that peak hour traffic cannot be dealt with separately
from a transport economics angle alone because many other sociological
and economic factors have a bearing on it.
This being so, "economics" should be construed in its widest
sense; that is as the area of research covering all human needs and
quantifying those needs, notably in monetary units.
Traffic peaks are a problem bound up with the quality of life
which itself largely depends on a certain level of economic produc¬
tivity. This is all the more true because no improvement in the
quality of life is conceivable unless the appropriate resources are
provided (or unless there is some limitation of the losses due to
misallocation of resources).
To put it briefly, waste is not the ultimate purpose of any
economy theory or system and traffic peaks are typically wasteful.
- 6 -
The quality of life draws its substance from economic produc¬
tivity and can thus be described as "a way of living" within a
"human environment" . It is against this background that the following
analysis is set.
As to awareness of the problem of traffic peaks , it has to be
admitted that - at least until quite recently - public opinion and
the authorities concerned cared little and did little about it. The
reason lies in the complexity of the problem, its gradual development
and lack of information.
The problem of traffic peaks has been debated quite often already,
and solutions have been tried, but the discussion has all too often
been limited to complacent emphasis on its complexity followed by
reference to other authorities presumed to be more directly responsi¬
ble. A sectoral approach (e.g. from the standpoint of transport only)
may thus turn out to be ineffective in practice.
Furthermore, traffic peaks are the result of a process of develop¬
ment and change. They have slowly become more and more familiar and
are quite often seen as a necessary evil or as part of the price to
be paid for progress. But if traffic peaks on their present scale had
appeared at one fell swoop, the chances are that there would have been
a sharp response and corresponding action to curb their scope and
effects.
It is precisely on the scale of the effects that information is
lacking. Very large productivity gains and savings could be obtained
by altering the process of standardisation and concentration of
traffic peaks at certain times.
In the course of the evolution of our society, the timing of
what we do has become tied to the hours of the clock. By over-simpli¬
fying the process somewhat it can be shown as a two-fold misfit.
We have inherited and preserved the agricultural society, i.e.
timing of work and rest which was set by dawn and dusk. Working hours
have indeed been shortened, but according to a uniform pattern, span¬
ning roughly the same part of the day; furthermore, a second day has
been added to the week-end rest and annual holidays have been intro¬
duced, here again for almost everybody at about the same time of the
year.
This to-and-fro movement between farm and field has been carried
over to the industrial society, which has concentrated the spatial
dimensions of the process and ended up with a standardised pattern
of "journey-to-work" commuting.
This two-fold concentration has passed into the "service"
society where it has been further intensified by urban sprawl and
correspondingly longer trips. Paradoxically, the concentration of
journeys in time and space is no longer truly justifiable in a ser¬
vice society, and indeed it conflicts with the very essence of this
type of society since one cannot be both working and receiving ser¬
vices at one and the same time.
It is therefore important to discover the causes and constraints
which have brought about this uniformity and so determine where and
how to introduce changes which are both acceptable and beneficial.
The transport aspect is largely governed by other interdependent
factors. One could of course discourse at length on the time function
of transport and point out, in particular, how it alleviates some of
the basic needs of urban life (for instance when it is used to attenu¬
ate some of the effects of "wild" urban development). One might also
consider how the familiar concept of "public service" should be
construed in order to straighten out certain economic distortions.
However, without thereby assuming these distortions to be immut¬
able, it is better to take the existing situation as it stands. Only
by considering the present links between transport and other sectors
can practical improvements be devised.
By looking at traffic peaks from an economic angle, it should
be possible to see the problem in the round and trace the determin¬
ants which lie "upstream" of the transport process as such. What
needs to be analysed is a whole web of factors together with their
spatial and temporal relationships.
This global approach will make it easier to judge the merits
of certain sectoral or partial measures by showing where they are
complementary or incompatible.
2. THE HUMAN ENVIRONMENT
The human environment is made up of a combination of goods
(land, buildings, equipment) to which society reacts by likes or
dislikes, and which, from an economic angle, constitute the basis
of the productivity on which our standard of living depends. A
changing environment brings with it the problem of avoiding conflicts
between productivity and social sensitivity.
Rapid change towards a more "urbanised" way of life means that
the scale of the means of production referred to is expanded and
their economic value enhanced. This tendency is accentuated by simul¬
taneously fast development of tertiary activities.
Thus, more land may be taken up by buildings used for housing
"service" industries of every kind and as such development particu¬
larly applies to city centres, residential accommodation is conse¬
quently dislodged towards increasingly remote outskirts. It does not
fall within the scope of this paper to analyse the economic mechanisms
which govern this far-ranging relocation of functions, but it is
important to point out that some of the social costs of transport
- 8
that these changes involve are converted into capital gains on pro¬
perty values; there is thus a hidden transfer and transport serves
as a substitute for well-balanced urban patterns.
The extension of built-up areas also implies quicker wear and
tear of the means of production and, hence, a quicker rate of replace¬
ment. Between the city centre, where the tertiary sector is installed,
and the residential outskirts, there comes into being a wide inter¬
mediate zone mainly characterised by obsolescent buildings. Ultimately,
critical replacement problems will arise in this zone, but there will
also be opportunities for reshaping the urban texture with an eye to
a better balanced spatial distribution of the activities and functions
of everyday life.
However, installations in the tertiary sector are those most
affected by quick depreciation. Here, premises and equipment become
obsolescent at an accelerating pace. The facilities to be provided
or replaced are increasingly sophisticated (e.g. lifts, air condition¬
ing, sound proofing). Considered as a whole, the means of production
that make up the human environment undergo all at once a process
involving both concentration and extension besides becoming more
costly. Consequently, the human environment in the long run presents
a formidable problem of productivity.
It is precisely productivity which is threatened by the decreas¬
ing number of hours when capital equipment is effectively used. Work
hours are indeed subject to a two-fold bias: they are both becoming
shorter and moving towards uniform timing. The only object at this
stage is to point to developments which hamper productivity, without
passing judgment on some aspects (such as social progress) which may
be seen in a more attractive light.
Examples of mediocre utilisation of assets in the tertiary sec¬
tor are numerous. It is enough to bear in mind the hours during which
schools, offices, recreation facilities, canteens, and even transport
systems are in actual use.
Productivity in the tertiary sector is not always open to the
same improvements as in the secondary industries. Productivity of
labour tends to level off in the tertiary sector but there remains
plenty of scope for more productive plant and machinery.
The mediocre performance of many services is on the way to be¬
coming a very grave economic problem; it is more than likely that
current inflation is in part attributable to the unduly heavy burden
that the service sector lays upon productivity generally.
It is therefore clear that the problem of traffic peaks goes
far beyond the realm of transport as such, this being only a small -
albeit particularly conspicuous - part of it. All things considered,
it is an entire way of life which is challenged by the flattening
trend of productivity.
