Re:Phantom traffic jams, and why lane expansion isn’t really...
by CalRobert on Monday July 02, 2018 @05:00AM
(#17440233)
If 100 people have decided they can now commute 30 miles instead of 20 miles because of increased road space, you haven't really enabled a whole lot. Granted, those people can live further away from their work, possibly on less expensive land.
You have, though, made it harder for the economics to work in favour of apartment buildings and public transit, and as a result made life more difficult for people who choose not to, are unable to, or can't afford to drive. Because people in the suburbs will vote in favour of thigns that make their motoring experience more pleasant, they will demand new construction have off-street parking (even of the residents don't drive), making units tens of thousands of dollars more expensive and less pleasant to walk near, and free or dirt cheap parking in city centres. They will force transit stations to have places for cars to sleep, not people (aka park and ride). Meanwhile, those people who don't drive still bear the negative externalities of the extra vmt and their taxes pay to enable it for others.
In addition to the economics, you've made the public realm more hostile to walking and cycling; car-friendly places are human-hostile.
More vehicle-miles traveled corresponds more emphysema, more extreme weather events, more noise, more light pollution, more cancer, and just more dead people in general. It's impossible to say who or when or how (except in the case of crashes) but every substantial road expansion kills some of the people nearby.
You have, though, made it harder for the economics to work in favour of apartment buildings and public transit, and as a result made life more difficult for people who choose not to, are unable to, or can't afford to drive. Because people in the suburbs will vote in favour of thigns that make their motoring experience more pleasant, they will demand new construction have off-street parking (even of the residents don't drive), making units tens of thousands of dollars more expensive and less pleasant to walk near, and free or dirt cheap parking in city centres. They will force transit stations to have places for cars to sleep, not people (aka park and ride). Meanwhile, those people who don't drive still bear the negative externalities of the extra vmt and their taxes pay to enable it for others.
In addition to the economics, you've made the public realm more hostile to walking and cycling; car-friendly places are human-hostile.
More vehicle-miles traveled corresponds more emphysema, more extreme weather events, more noise, more light pollution, more cancer, and just more dead people in general. It's impossible to say who or when or how (except in the case of crashes) but every substantial road expansion kills some of the people nearby.