I think one of the best arguments against “the notion traffic always expands to fully fill the capacity of the road network” is to notice the distinct lack of traffic congestion in rural areas.
If roads create traffic congestion, one would expect to find traffic congestion to be evenly distributed wherever you find roads. So rural areas with roads should have roughly the same levels of traffic congestion as central cities. This is obviously not true.
This is a good piece on the issue. And research shows that for the narrow problem of congestion, neither road widening nor public transit resolve the issue. Congestion pricing, which you mention, is so far the only solution to the problem. It also nternalizes the externalites - pollution, congestion, noise etc. Lastly, it also speeds up the traffic that generates most economic value - commercial trucks and buses.
Great article.
I think one of the best arguments against “the notion traffic always expands to fully fill the capacity of the road network” is to notice the distinct lack of traffic congestion in rural areas.
If roads create traffic congestion, one would expect to find traffic congestion to be evenly distributed wherever you find roads. So rural areas with roads should have roughly the same levels of traffic congestion as central cities. This is obviously not true.
This is a good piece on the issue. And research shows that for the narrow problem of congestion, neither road widening nor public transit resolve the issue. Congestion pricing, which you mention, is so far the only solution to the problem. It also nternalizes the externalites - pollution, congestion, noise etc. Lastly, it also speeds up the traffic that generates most economic value - commercial trucks and buses.
The problem with the cars/buss picture is that it assumes all those people want to go to the exact same place at the exact same time.