Tim, on the surface it might look that way but in reality, new roads, specifically freeways, begat more traffic.
On the surface and all the way down to the core. Sure in one simplistic sense more roads cause more traffic, if there where no roads no one would be driving (except a few off roaders), but having more roads decreases the traffic density it doesn't increase it. You get less cars waiting in traffic jams dumping out tons of pollution.
Tim, on the contrary, the new roads attract more cars and density increases quickly on them. Initially, surface streets benefit as cars leave them for the freeways. However, as the freeways get to over capacity, the overflow moves back down to the surface streets. This is true even for cities that are not growing quickly like Kansas or St. Louis....and for cities experiencing serious growth, traffic is becoming a nightmare.
Our love affair with the car is like an out of control cancer. Building more roads does not solve the problem......it makes it worse. I am not sure what will get people out of their cars. We need to put a heavy tax on it like in Europe but up til now, our politicians haven't had the cajones to do it. Consequently, in many American cities, traffic is approaching gridlock.
ted |
