More Freeways Are The Answer To Traffic

Robert Poole of the Reason Foundation argues that public-private partnerships could result in more freeways -- and less traffic.

1 minute read

September 9, 2001, 7:00 AM PDT

By Chris Steins @planetizen


"The anti-freeway consensus argues that we cannot build our way out of congestion. More freeways will simply attract more driving and pretty soon be just as congested as before. Besides, there's no place to put them, and the cost would be unaffordable. Better to channel highway tax receipts into mass-transit projects that will get some of us out of our cars and off the freeways.But we haven't even tried to add capacity. From 1988 to 1998, according to the California Legislative Analyst's office, while the state's population increased by 18%, vehicle miles traveled by car increased by 30% -- and mass-transit use (despite new billions in spending on rail systems) remained basically flat. But while demand for driving exploded, just 1% was added to freeway lane-miles during the past decade. No wonder congestion soared from 197,000 daily hours of delay in 1988 to 418,000 hours in 1998."

Thanks to Reason Public Policy Institute

Saturday, September 8, 2001 in Reason Public Policy Institute

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