ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT: The main subject of this paper is to survey traffic calming methodology in European cities. Traffic calming has a significant impact on improvement of the environment in city centres, particularly reduction of air pollution through emissions and restriction of noise from motor vehicle traffic. Emphasis is placed on the applications of the individual methods implemented in Rome, London, Stockholm and Munich. Through the long-term monitoring of the traffic situation, the pros and cons of the individual methods can be evaluated in these cities. The paper aims to find a broader context for implementation of the individual methods and their adaptation to the traffic calming conditions in Czech Republic. Pursuant to the facts obtained, a study of the current measures in Ostrava has been executed, together with a draft of suitable methods to reduce car traffic and improve the environment in the broader city centre
1 INTRODUCTION
The increase in motor vehicle traffic at the end of the 20th century brought new problems into the world’s big cities. At the beginning of the 20th century, cities were particularly designed for pedestrian traffic; cars were exceptional in the streets. The rising popularity of cars, however, raised new questions which needed to be solved with regard to the concept of long-term urban planning. Thus municipal plans gradually included road and highway corridors, which uncompromisingly divide the landscape and cities into subparts. In the 1980s, there was a substantial increase in vehicle numbers in Western Europe. Motor affect cities negatively in the form of increased air pollution, noise as well as space problems in older estates. In the Czech Republic and other Eastern European countries, the development of car traffic was slightly delayed. Thus the time is approaching to look for suitable measures to calm traffic in city centres and tourist areas. A suitable method of seeking the correct solution is the analysis of solutions, which have already been applied and implemented in many Western European cities in the past.
