Needless to say, traffic congestion has become one of the most problematic issues we have to deal with in our city. An increase in population, centralization of business and commercial areas and the high percentage of use of private vehicles have contributed to this urban problem. We must ask if there are any constructive solutions to this problem?

A short-time solution might be Increasing fines during rush hours may be the most efficient way to have this problem controlled. We could not deny that for years people has been using their private vehicles when they have to go down town and do not take the traffic regulations seriously due to the small city size and the authorities have not executed the laws strictly. However the situation has changed and it is high time to educate drivers to abide the laws. We could start by installing more traffic cameras, clearing tow-away areas more often and increasing the penalty for illegal parking. In this way the government will have extra budget to improve our traffic situation.  

On the other hand, to build a bigger and more efficient public transportation should be the best policy for long term. It is also a worthy way for tax allocation. People do not take public transportation not because they do not want to but because there are never enough buses and trains running and lack of a well-designed network. We should extend metro hours on weekends, set display boards to show the waiting time for next buses, apply a single ticket for 1.5 hours instead of charging passengers for every route they take. The more convenient and open the public transportation is, the more citizens are willing to use it, and in return, exhaust emissions will be reduced, less traffic jam during rush hours and a significant reduction in space required for car parking. 

We all know every citizen is required to respect the traffic laws and has the right to decide where our city budget goes. The way I see is that these 2 policies mentioned above are the best ways to solve our traffic congestion for short and long term. I believe in the near future we will have a modern and significantly organized city center.