I- What is Reflective Writing?

There are many definitions of reflective writing! For example, “Reflection is a dynamic
process. It is not about being passive, staying where you are and looking back – but an
active engagement with knowledge and experience. So, in reflecting you are able to
construct new and deeper understanding and to articulate knowledge in a more
meaningful way”. (Nationalcollege.org.uk 2018)

II- Useful Phrases to Critically Reflect

These phrases are taken from Southampton University. They can help you to start
critically reflecting after you have described the situation. These generators will help
you create the beginning of reflective writing sentences and in turn create interpretation
sentences.

- think . . .
- wonder . . .
- know . . .
- believe …

You can see how complex some questions are but there is an overlap of the question, in
terms of university life and work life. For you, the question that asks you to compare
your experience with theory, which is essential.

How do professionals reflect?

• What happened?
• Why?
• What was my role?
• What was the role of others?
• What was the role of the context?
• What was the role of the system?
• What was the outcome?
• How was this similar or different to what I expected/ to my past experience/ to
my theoretical understanding?
• What have I learned and how can I use this learning in the future?

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III- Organization of a reflection

These are just some starter phrases that might help.

1. Introduction
• Having read the text about …, I have some practical thinking about it.
• After much exposure to the reading passage, I withdraw some ideas to
share.
• The text has provided me with a lot of thinking about the matter.
2. Body
a. General Analysis

• The most significant issue arising from this experience was ...
• Alternatively this might be due to ...
• I feel this situation arose because ...

b. Reflection on self

• At the time I felt that ...

• Initially I did not question ...
• Subsequently I realised ...

c. Linking theory to experience

• This (concept) helps to explain what happened with ...

• Argyle (2001) propounds the importance of body language and this
relates to this

situation ...

• X(concept) provides insight into my own experience of ...

d. Linking experience to theory

• My experience of ... relates to Argyle’s (2001) theory

• This experience highlights the concept of ...

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 • This experience is typical of what Hargie (2019) describes as ...

3. Conclusion

• Having read around this issue I now realise that ...

• I have developed my understanding of ...
• Initially I did not realise the benefit of using method X; however, this
experience has taught me that ...

4. Now what/ Action plan

• However, I am not yet confident that...

• This experience has highlighted that I need to develop my skills ...
• From this experience I have learnt that ... which I feel will be invaluable...

Other phrases

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Example:
Read the following passage and reflect based on the suggestions

Traffic congestion is a problem in cities all over the world. The U.N. Department of
Economic and Social Affairs states that 68 percent of the world’s population will live
in cities over the coming decades up from 55 percent today.1 As cities grow, congestion
will get worse. In Moscow, Russia, the average driver spends 210 hours a year waiting
in traffic, while in Mexico City, Mexico, the average driver spends 218 a year in traffic.
In Chicago, Illinois, the average driver is relatively lucky as they only spend 138 hours
a year in traffic.2

One solution to traffic congestion is smart mobility. Smart mobility is the concept of
connecting the elements of a city’s transportation system to the cloud. Data from each
element—vehicles, traffic signals, people, roads, and maps—is collected, combined,

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and analyzed to optimize the flow of vehicles in the city. If we drill down on how cities
are using smart mobility to reduce traffic congestion today, we see best practices
emerge. Let’s look at six key items that cities should embrace to enable smart mobility
solutions.

- One criterion required to enable smart mobility to reduce traffic congestion is

connected infrastructure. The different parts of a city’s transportation system
need to be connected to the cloud: traffic lights, cars, buses, trains, bikes, people,
maps, and even roads. This Internet of Things (IoT) approach allows location,
speed, capacity, and other data to be collected, stored, and analyzed. Wilson
Parking recently invested in connected infrastructure to decrease congestion for
drivers using the new Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge. The city of Taipai
has launched an initiative to connect 150,000 streetlights.

- Another criterion is access to data. Cities continuously collect and produce large
quantities of data for planning, production, and decision-making. Sharing this
data with the private sector can help accelerate smart mobility solutions. The
City of Denver creates a holistic data environment that brings together data from
multiple siloed sources to meet its smart mobility goals. Helsinki, Finland,
opened access to city GIS transportation data.

- A third criterion is offering compelling options to the “one car, one driver”
model. For smart mobility, alternative options would need to be connected to the
cloud: Bicycle commuting: ideal for commutes of a few miles, Carsharing: rent
cars by the minute or by the hour, Ridesharing (carpooling): make use of the
empty seats already in the system, On-demand ride services: use personal
vehicles to offer transportation services, and Buses and trains: reimagining
existing transportation by integrating them into end-to-end trip plans, including
how to travel the last mile home

- A fourth criterion required to enable smart mobility to reduce traffic congestion

is the evolution of autonomous vehicles. While still in development, autonomous
vehicles are cars or trucks in which human drivers are not required. These
vehicles use sensors and software to control, navigate, and drive the vehicle. The
use of autonomous vehicles to reduce traffic congestion depends on public
policy. For example, self-driving cars could connect transit hubs, provide public
transit services to communities not currently served, and be used to improve
public transportation.3

- Traffic management is ultimately at the heart of reducing congestion. The new

Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge is a modern-day marvel that has forever
changed traffic patterns across one of Asia’s fast-growing areas. Recent
estimates say daily volume on the world’s longest sea bridge will reach 29,100
vehicles by 2030 and 42,000 vehicles by 2037. Wilson Parking enables drivers
to pre-book spaces on the bridge, resulting in smoother traffic flows. The City of
Denver uses its capabilities to take a proactive approach to transportation

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 optimizations, for example, by enabling real-time adjustments to traffic flows in
the case of accidents or other disruptions.

- Mobility as a Service (MaaS) applications complete the smart mobility picture.

The vision of MaaS is to make it easier and less expensive for car drivers and
passengers to travel via alternative forms of transportation. MaaS applications
enable travelers to plan trips based on their priorities and preferences. Microsoft
is working with companies like Moovit and TomTom to offer critical real-time
data to MaaS application providers, enabling them to deliver compelling
applications. By connecting traffic lights, vehicles, people, and roads to the
cloud, sharing data, embracing alternative modes of transportation, and building
traffic management systems, cities like Hong Kong, Taipei, and Denver are
experiencing success and leading the way for other cities. As travelers adopt
MaaS applications, they will increasingly choose mass transit options over
driving on their own. The advent of autonomous vehicles will eventually help
reduce traffic congestion even further.

Another way is to provide exclusive public transport lanes, which means the lane on
which the bus or streetcar runs is not open to private vehicle traffic. Exclusive lanes
enable buses and trams to avoid congestion helping increase their speed, reliability and
attractiveness. Unfortunately, exclusive lanes are often controversial since they ‘take’
space that could otherwise be used by private vehicles. Exclusive lanes come in many
shapes and sizes, for example:

• Taxicabs are allowed to use exclusive lanes in some cities (e.g. Vienna, San
Francisco. Paris).

• Bicycles are often allowed to use exclusive lanes.

• Exclusive lanes can be time-based, in other words exclusive during certain times
(peak periods) and reverting to mixed-flow or parking lanes at other times.

The method of separating exclusive lanes from other traffic is an important factor in
determining their effectiveness. Simply put, the better the separation – the more
effective. Painted lanes are least effective and lanes separated by barriers or on their
own right of way are best.

The last remedy to trafic jam is enacting regulations that can be used to reduce
congestion impacts on public transport. This means adding traffic restrictions that help
public transport and removing traffic restrictions that hurt public transport. Examples
of traffic regulations include:

• Parking Restrictions – one main cause of delays to transit vehicles is waiting while
private vehicles maneuver in and out of parking spaces. Parking restrictions and
controls can be implemented to reduce the impact of parking movements on transit
vehicles and to provide space needed for exclusive transit lanes.

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• Turn Restrictions – turning vehicles are another significant source of delay for
transit vehicles. Implementing turn restrictions carefully can significantly reduce
these delays.
• Transit Exemption from Turning Requirements – in some cases, restrictions to
turning movements can lengthen and delay transit routes. In these cases, it can be
beneficial to exempt transit from the turning movement restriction.
• Loading Restrictions – historically, vehicle loading on public streets has been a
problem in cities throughout history. In ancient Rome, goods delivery was banned
during the day because of congestion. Careful design of loading areas can improve
transit priority by reducing interference with transit vehicles.
It’s important to note that traffic regulations (e.g. removing parking) can be
controversial. This means that they should be developed and implemented with public
input, and that they need to be designed to minimize unnecessary negative impacts. One
effective method is including traffic regulations as part of a comprehensive program
designed to improve neighborhood livability.

https://cloudblogs.microsoft.com/industry-blog/automotive/2020/02/04/6-smart-
mobility-solutions-that-are-helping-to-reduce-traffic-congestion/

https://crowdsourced-transport.com/working-pages/improve-public-transport/reduce-
traffic-congestion/

References:
1
United Nations Dept. of Economics and Social Population Dynamics
2
INRIX 2018 Global Scorecard
3
Union of Concerned Scientists, Maximizing the Benefits of Self-Driving Vehicles

1. How many ways are there?

2. How many criteria/ examples?
3. Are they applicable in your country?
4. Can you suggest more ways to reduce traffic where you are?
5. Are they effective in reducing traffic?
Reflection