Using Congestion To Get People Out Of Their Cars

"How do we address our congestion problem? Well, if congestion is the result of too many cars and too few roads, the obvious approach is to increase the capacity of the road network and reduce the use of that network.

Historically, the [Atlanta] region's approach has largely focused on one side of congestion — road capacity. But adding new lanes of highway is becoming increasingly problematic. The revenue available from the federal government is expected to decline. State government revenue labors under a gas tax that has not been changed since 1971. And construction costs are increasing dramatically because of the increased value of right of way and the increase in the cost of concrete, asphalt and structural steel.

But increasingly the solution to congestion has to focus on the other side of congestion, i.e., reducing the number of miles driven. To have a significant effect on miles driven we have to make driving, particularly driving alone, less desirable and make the alternatives more appealing.

To encourage more people to use alternatives we could substantially increase the gas tax or charge a price for each mile driven, an option that Portland, Ore., is experimenting with.

This approach, however, will be effective only if there are good alternatives to driving alone."

Specifically, the author calls for investment in reliable public transit, bike lanes, and HOV lanes before the public embraces alternatives to driving.