More Roads May Pave The Way To More Traffic : NPR
►http://www.npr.org/2011/07/09/137708751/more-roads-may-pave-way-to-more-traffic
For decades, urban areas across the country have been adding lanes and building roads to fight congestion, but a recent study by University of Toronto researchers finds that widening and building more roads actually creates more traffic.
“What we found was that in cities where there was more roads, there was more driving,” economist Matthew Turner, a co-author of the study, tells weekends on All Things Considered host Guy Raz. “In particular, if you had 1 percent more roads, you had 1 percent more driving in those cities.”
Turner’s study also looked at public transportation, and the results were similar: More buses and trains create more riders, but generally don’t make a dent in traffic problems.
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Ultimately, Turner’s research has shown that the only way to deal with congestion is to follow the lead of cities like London, Singapore and Stockholm, which have adopted “congestion pricing” — tolls on people driving in the center city. Turner says Stockholm, specifically, has seen a 50 percent reduction in travel time at peak times because of tolls.
