In January, transport flows in Vilnius decreased due to school and student vacations, sessions, informs SĮ "Communication servicesAleksej Apanovičius, head of the city traffic management department. However, he warns that traffic will pick up again in March and peak in April. Then drivers will need more patience on the streets.
In January, many residents of Vilnius noticed shorter trips to work.
LRT.lt reader Dovilė asks if the congestion has decreased due to the changed work of the traffic lights or because of students' and pupils' holidays.
"I have to travel to work along Laisvės avenue, Narbuto street. Usually, it is very congested city arteries in the morning. The situation was particularly bad in November and December before the holidays. At the moment, I arrive at work without traffic jams, at best there are about three cars lined up in front of me at the intersection.
After work, I usually choose another route - Savanorių avenue and the western bypass, sometimes I have to travel along Pilaitė avenue to the Pilaitė microdistrict. However, the situation is better here at the moment, and the cars are moving faster than in the aforementioned November or December. What reasons could have led to the reduction of traffic jams in Vilnius?" - writes the reader of LRT.lt.
As LRT.lt stated, A. Apanovičius, during the long-term monitoring of traffic flows, it was found that in the January-May period, the flows always increase in March, and reach their peak in April - the holidays start later, the session time in higher education institutions, and this is said to lead to a decrease in the number of cars, so it also decreases congestion.
"In addition, Vilnius has implemented an automated traffic management system that adapts to real traffic flows on the streets: traffic regulation is carried out according to real traffic flows. If the amount of traffic from a certain direction decreases, the system automatically recalculates the duration of the green signal for all directions, that is, if the number of vehicles decreases in some direction, the duration of the green signal is distributed to other road users. This flexible regulation also contributes to more efficient flow management and reduction of congestion on the streets of the capital city", explained the representative of SĮ Susisiekimos paslaugos.
In January of this year, an average of 10 traffic jams were recorded in Vilnius during the morning peak, and 11 during the evening peak.
In January, compared to December, the duration of the morning peak in the city decreased by 35 minutes. - up to 1 hour 16 min., and the duration of the evening peak decreased by 50 min. - up to 1 hour 32 min.
According to preliminary calculations, Calvary - Soldiers - Ozo str. intersection - one of the busiest intersections in the city of Vilnius - daily average load in January. (compared to December) decreased by approximately 12 thousand. cars (approximately 15%) - up to 79,2 thousand, when it reached about 91,2 thousand in the third week of December. cars per day. Compared to 2017 and the months of January of this year, Kalvariju - Kareivius - Ozo St. the daily load of the intersection remained similar: in 2017, about 79,9 thousand people crossed the intersection. cars per day.
"One of the main reasons for traffic jams in Vilnius is the large number of cars - according to our data, traffic flows in Vilnius only grow every year. On average, only 5 people travel in four cars, that is, each family member travels in his own car. If the average filling of each car reached at least 2,5-3 people, the traffic on the streets would be reduced by almost half. It is natural that when the number of cars on the streets decreases or increases, the congestion decreases or increases accordingly," A. Apanovičius commented on LRT.lt.
