Friday, November 13, 2015

California concedes induced demand: Building roads encourages driving, hence MORE congestion.


Have an opinion about traffic congestion?

You're entitled, but henceforth, when you air it, I'll be asking you if you're familiar with induced demand.

It's going to be on the test, folks. Go back and reread your October reminder.

Induced demand" as necessary corrective to road-building lobbyists' Goebbelsian propaganda.

Here is November's.

California's DOT Admits That More Roads Mean More Traffic, by Eric Jaffe (City Lab)

Whenever a road project gets announced, the first thing officials talk about is how it’s going to reduce traffic ... (but) congestion relief itself is a dubious claim when it comes to road expansions.

Transportation experts have repeatedly found that building new roads inevitably encourages more people to drive, which in turn negates any congestion savings—a phenomenon known as “induced demand.”

There’s high-quality evidence for induced demand ...

No comments: