Agreed. I don’t get why induced demand is always presented as a bad thing. The title here is a perfect example. It “makes” people travel more, as if this is a bad thing people are being forced to do against their will. If we reframe it by saying it “allows” people to travel more then suddenly it becomes a good thing!

Of course we should carefully consider all the costs and externalities of road expansion before doing it. But it’s all too often presented as being completely pointless or having no redeeming features at all, so there’s no point in even considering it.