Environmental management of traffic: How to transport engineering can contribute to the improvement of urban environment

Abstract

This paper introduces the concept of Envir onmental Traffic Management. The relevance of this paper lies in the fact that this concept is almost unknown in Latin America. However, the Envir onmental Traffic Management has the potential of improving urban environment. Firstly, the concepts of transpor t system, traffic, traffic management, congestion and degree of saturation are intr oduced. Then, the way in which the urban as well as envir onmental impacts can be predicted by means of the degree of saturation is shown. Considering Santiago de Chile as case study, alternative schemes for reducing the degree of saturation are explored. Finally, the main conclusion is stated: it is not necessary to expand r oad capacity for reducing traffic impacts. It is necessar y, however, to change the scope of traffic pr oblems: from reducing r oad congestion to increase urban quality.