Research firm says planning needed to ease traffic

Friday, March 26, 1999 | 10:39 a.m.

The key to resolving traffic congestion problems in Southern Nevada is regional planning, a national research firm said Thursday.

"We don't want to say the only thing to do is build, build, build," said Bill Outlaw, spokesman for the nonprofit The Road Information Program (TRIP).

TRIP is funded by companies in the highway construction industry, a fact that critics say makes them suspect when they call for building more roads.

Outlaw and Frank Moretti, director of research for TRIP, say road construction is only one part of the mix. Everything must be looked at, including public transportation.

"We are putting forth a comprehensive, balanced plan," Outlaw said.

Moretti said some organizations favor one solution over another, such as no new highways and emphasis on public transportation for every community.

"This paper is a response to push for a one-size-fits-all mentality," Moretti said, calling that a cookie-cutter approach to urban planning.

State Sen. Dina Titus, who favors controlled growth in Las Vegas Valley, agrees that regional planning is vital in addressing the traffic congestion problem.

"But right now, if you do a master plan you don't have to include a transportation study," Titus said.

If a bill she has written is successful in becoming law, that will change.

Her Senate Bill 393 -- the Smart Growth bill -- would require all master plans to include transportation studies.

The bill will be discussed Monday by the Government Affairs Committee.

According to the TRIP report, during the period 1992 to 1997 the number of vehicle miles traveled daily in Las Vegas grew 85 percent, from 11.6 million to 21.3 million.

The report was made public during the ConExpo convention, a gathering for people involved in highway construction-related businesses.

"The significant increase in highway travel in these cities is a call for these areas to adopt a balanced approach to transportation improvements to relieve traffic congestion," TRIP Executive Director William M. Wilkins said in a prepared statement. "Congestion relief requires a mix of better traffic management, added road capacity and efficient use of public transit."

With a population growing at a rate estimated between 5,000 and 6,000 per month, news of traffic congestion is no surprise to Las Vegans.

What may surprise them is that the congestion costs the average driver $510 annually in additional fuel costs and wasted time, TRIP claims, citing a recent report from the Texas Transportation Institute.

Wilkins says Las Vegas, and other areas of high growth, can help alleviate the congestion problem by:

* Adding additional lanes for traffic and for turns.

* Building new roads and highway links.

* Having additional mass transit service.

* Improving traffic signals.

* Improving response time to traffic congestion problems, such as accidents and break-downs.

* Reversing flow lanes, or lanes whose direction of travel changes with rush hours.

* Using metered highway ramps to create a smooth flow of vehicles onto the freeway.

* Having regional planning to help reduce congestion by putting homes and jobs closer together.

* Improving design of interconnected streets between neighborhoods.

Many of the solutions suggested by TRIP are already being addressed in Clark County.

For example, an engineer at UNLV's Transportation Research Center -- which collects data for the Nevada Department of Transportation, among other clients -- is in the early stages of developing "smart" traffic signals that will be able to read traffic flow and adjust themselves according to needs.

"I'm trying to come up with a methodology for intelligent signals that respond better to traffic," said Mohamed S. Kaseko, an assistant professor of civil engineering.

His system would use what is known in computer language as "fuzzy logic."

A computer that is programed for fuzzy logic has the ability to make adaptations that other computers, which require precise information, are not able to do.

Kaseko is trying to develop a signal that has sensors to pick up traffic flow problems and make adjustments.

"At this point I'm just looking at the technology. Within about a year I should have a good idea about developing it," Kaseko said.

The research center has been instrumental in helping the state and county develop road plans that have helped ease traffic, such as turn-outs for bus stops.

The center currently is developing a Web site with Clark County that will show details about every road construction project in the county, which may help congestion by alerting motorists to potential problem areas.

Shashi Nambisan, the center's director, said cost is the biggest factor when deciding what steps to take to alleviate traffic problems.

"It costs between $20 million and $30 million to build a mile of freeway," he noted. "We try to quantify the costs -- do the benefits outweigh the cost?"