Traffic Projections

Diagram of a roundabout and site photos laid out on a desk

Transportation Agencies: Improve Your Models or Hire More Lawyers

Transportation models are biased in ways that result in inefficient, unfair and environmentally harmful planning decisions. Improve your analysis or prepare to be sued.

April 26, 2023 - Todd Litman

Sunshine Skyway Bridge

Traffic Projections Missing from $6 Billion Tampa Bay Express Toll Road Plans

A Tampa Bay Times columnist continues a crusade against the faulty projections that enable toll road construction projects in Florida, and the sprawling development patterns that follow.

June 21, 2016 - Tampa Bay Times

Feds Expect 40 Percent Growth in Freight in the Next 30 Years

A big data dump from the federal government earlier this week predicts drastic increases in the amount of freight that will be moving around the country in the next few decades.

March 5, 2016 - U.S. Department Of Transportation

Toll Road Cautionary Tale: Florida's Suncoast Parkway

The Suncoast Parkway has produced $22 million a year in revenue after a consultant said it would bring in $150 million a year. Yet the Florida Department of Transportation wants to expand the road.

February 9, 2016 - Tampa Bay Times

Federal Court: Wisconsin DOT's Traffic Projections Fail to Justify Highway Expansion

A federal court found that the Wisconsin DOT uses specious traffic projections to justify the $146 million widening of Highway 23. The state must now either perform verifiable forecasting or scrap the expansion plans.

May 28, 2015 - Streetsblog Network

An In-Depth Look at the Indiana Toll Road Bankruptcy

Angie Schmitt and Payton Chung have created a three-part series on the Indiana Toll Road and how its example informs the use of private finance to build and maintain highways.

November 24, 2014 - Streetsblog USA

If You Want Accurate Traffic Projections, Don't Listen to DOTs

Analysis by the State Smart Transportation Initiative (SSTI) finds that the traffic projections used by state and local transportation agencies, which form the basis for spending priorities, are consistently higher than actual results.

December 18, 2013 - DC.Streetsblog

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