Jack Eble 3/20/13 Professor Wright ENC 3331 The Issue of Traffic: Reasonable Action or Flat-Out Complaning?

There is not a single soul on the planet Earth who has never suffered the agony of traffic. It is a part of our lives whether we want it to or not, although I would not expect anyone to take the latter. Many people argue and complain about traffic daily, but how could the issue be solved? How about adding more parking spots or garages? What about more lanes in roads? Make it more difficult to become a licensed driver? To answer the first two questions, those sounds like good, productive initiatives, but it would certainly bring even more traffic to that which we experience already due to extended periods of construction. The third question becomes too complex as it is likely that no new proposals would be put forward in due time and nothing would be solved for multiple years. I bring forward a proposal that I believe could help move us forward in a way to solve the issue of traffic, and that is to make reasonable and more efficient traffic lights. Of course, the majority of you are likely either laughing at this ludicrous claim or think that I am just another complainer who will never get the reality he seeks. Complaining about traffic lights is prevalent, yes, but has anybody taken an initiative to help it? Can anybody help it? This is an important issue especially here in Orlando, Florida and specifically the University of Central Florida, the largest school in the United States.

The issue of traffic has been supplanted in peoples minds as a problem you just have to deal with and will never go away. That does not make the idea of trying to help lower traffic by changing traffic lights not an important one. Metropolis Orlando ranks 26th in the country in population, which is the combination of x amount of people going to work and y amount of people going to school, whether it UCF or Valencia. In the hours that are before school and after, it is an absolute nightmare coming home or going to work. Most of the time, it is because there are too many cars on the road and the on-campus traffic lights only let a small percentage of those cars to go, leaving everyone else left to move a fraction-of-an-inch every five minutes. Since UCF has such a large population with all of its roads being two lanes, traffic is implied before and after hours. It doesnt matter which entrance or exit you take, there is no escape. One of the most gut-wrenching feelings a student can get is when you look at the time and youre either late for an important class or late to work. The issue of traffic and unreasonable traffic lights is an essential issue to propose to help take unneeded stress off of already stressed out students. Being a full-time student who also has an internship that is at least a twenty minute commute, this issue has haunted me many times. The hardest aspect of the proposal is the transition from being an every, day complainer into an action taker. This isnt an issue that can be solved in the drop of a dime so it must be addressed and help other complainer, like myself, to join together. The rhetorical approach that I feel like I should take is the method of ethos, pathos and logos. If people can be persuaded to actually take action instead of moping and agonizing in their cars, then I feel that the issue of traffic can be moved in the right direction. People say that the lights are too long or too short, but is that a fact? This is where the logos element, I feel, is the most important part. If you give people numbers and facts, such as the amount of time each light takes compared to the number of

cars on the road and how many cars comparatively go through the light before it changes, than you can begin to physically show people that the light is too long or short. I can see ethos coinciding with logos because in order to get the actions I want, I will need to be a credible source rather than an everyday complainer. If I can have a reasonable discussion with the authorities in charge of this matter, then they will take my reasoning more seriously rather than someone going in just yelling about the common problem. Pathos would also play a role with both ethos and logos because this problem affects everybody of all ages, so if I can convince people in faculty with passionate, knowledgeable information, than the issue of traffic could be a thing of the past. The first and foremost effort I will take will be to go to Parking and Traffic Service to get more information on the subject while also presenting ideas of my own. If this is addressed and I still feel that some action must be taken, eventually I was thinking of getting a video of some kind together to introduce the cause and attract internet users who dont pay attention to flyers or posters. If enough support is gained, then the political part of the proposal can be reviewed, whether by proposing it to the student government or the local officials.