Opinion: If you build it will they congest?
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Jillian over at Blogging.la makes a statement about traffic you hear all the time:
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: freeway congestion is a symptom of the problem, not the problem itself. Building more freeways makes the traffic better for about five minutes until they fill up again.
There are people who actually study this issue, and I’d link to them if I had time (tomorrow!), but absent data I’ve always wondered about the logic of this: Does it make any kind of intuitive sense that building more freeway lanes basically creates more (or at least as much) congestion?
For that to be true you’d have to assume that people choose between driving and public transit based on freeway congestion. But in any kind of practical sense, do they? Or more to the point, do you? See what I’m talking about after the jump.
I’m a huge fan of taking public transit, yet freeway congestion, to my knowledge, has never factored into a single driving-vs.-transit decision I’ve ever made. I take the bus to work except when I’m late, or have a place I need to be after work that’s not close to a metro stop. So, the choice isn’t about congestion, it’s convenience/freedom.
Looking at my other commuting choices they’re all like that:
* I’ll take the Amtrak to Angel Stadium on weekend games; not because it’s faster, but because I like taking trains, and being able to enjoy a beer or two.
* I’ll only drive to my parents’ houses (in Long Beach and Murrieta), because commuting would take two or five times as long.
* I’ll take the Red Line downtown or to Hollywood on weekends or nights, to avoid parking hassles and because it’s fun, but if I’m in a real hurry on any end of it I’ll drive.
* I’ll take the Gold Line whenever I’m headed in that direction, except for when I’m in any kind of hurry.
So, less congestion on the freeway wouldn’t change my behavior one darn bit. On the other hand, if there was twice as much congestion -- if the 5 south to the Big A was just a parking lot, say -- then I might eventually eliminate freeways from the palate palette of choices. This could be what some transit aficionados want, but I just don’t see how that would, for instance, help the environment. And more importantly, the trains just don’t run late enough after weeknight Angel games, so I’d basically be forced to stay home.
Anyway, this isn’t supposed to be about me, but about logic -- does making freeways go faster put people into cars? If so, I just don’t see it. If you have any real-world examples to the contrary -- meaning, from your own life -- I’d love to hear about it.