Induced Demand

Congestion as an Economic—Not an Engineering—Problem

Thinking about congestion as an economic problem generates new solutions for the problem as well as a response to accusations of social engineering.

September 29, 2015 - Urban Kchoze

Bay Bridge Toll Traffic

When a Freeway Goes Bad

At some point, in places all over the country, freeways stopped working as they were intended. What can be done to improve one of the great frustrations of life with a car?

August 23, 2015 - Pacific Standard

Katy Freeway

Too Big for Texas? Houston's 23-Lane Freeway

After a $2.3 billion widening project, traffic once again chokes the Katy Freeway's 23 lanes. For road spending critics who are also taxpayers, this I-told-you-so moment is bittersweet.

June 5, 2015 - Streetsblog Network

Does Peak Car Mean the End of Induced Demand?

Aaron Renn provides a dissenting argument on the implications of peak car, namely, "if we’ve really reached peak car, maybe we really can build our way out of congestion after all."

December 6, 2014 - New Geography

Los Angeles Traffic - The Newhall Pass

Induced Demand Explained (or Why We Can't Build Our Way Out of Congestion)

In case you need an easy link to reference when encountering arguments in favor of widening roads and freeways as a solution for traffic, Adam Mann provides an accessible and clear explainer article that sums up the limitations of such strategies.

June 18, 2014 - Wired

Study Says Induced Traffic Effect Too Often Ignored

Despite many studies confirming the effect of induced traffic, the effect is often ignored in the transport models used for project appraisal, says a team of Scandanavian researchers creating an extreme bias in the assessment of new projects.

June 25, 2012 - European Journal of Transport and Infrastructure Research

Explaining Induced Traffic

Eric Jaffe at The Infrastructurist explains the non-intuitive reason why often removing freeways means less traffic.

June 7, 2011 - The Infrastructurist

The Vicious Cycle of Adding Capacity for Cars

Dan Bertolet argues that adding expanding car capacity in cities just inspires more people to drive and ruins the qualities that make the city attractive in the first place.

September 5, 2010 - Publicola

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