The New Traffic Forecast: Modest Growth, then Decline

The forecast in question is a transportation revenue forecast [pdf] recently published by the Washington State Office of Financial Management.

"Their forecast from last September, in pink, assumed that traffic would grow endlessly, much as it did during the 1950s through 1990s," writes Williams-Derry. "But the new forecast, in blue, assumes that the modest traffic growth of the past decade will continue, and will then be followed by a slight decline."

As for why the forecast is significant, Williams-Derry explains: "When you find yourself in a hole, the first step is to stop digging. And that’s exactly what this new forecast does: it helps transportation policymakers stop digging all of us deeper into highway-fueled debt."