[sustran] Another study says more roads = more traffic

[Paul Barter]

Dear SUSTRAN friends, I thought the following from STPP's bulletin may
interest you. The study looked at the situation in the USA.


>================================
>TRANSFER
>June 13, 1997
>VOLUME 3, ISSUE 22
>Electronic Edition
>================================
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>
>
>New Study Finds More Roads Cause More Traffic
>
>A recent study published in Transportation Research A (Vol. 31,
>No. 3) finds that increasing roadway capacity generates more
>new traffic than previously thought.  The authors, Mark Hansen
>and Yuanlin Huang, find that 60-90% of increased urban
>highway capacity is filled with trips that would not have
>otherwise occurred within five years of a project's completion.
>The study adds to a growing body of evidence that challenges
>how much widening and building new roads helps to mitigate
>traffic congestion.
>
>The study's values are significantly higher than previous
>analyses, as it focuses on urban areas in the last twenty years
>rather than looking further back, when latent demand for travel
>was lower.  The generated traffic also means more pollution,
>energy consumption, sprawl, and congestion in other areas.
>While there is pressure for planners to consider the effects of
>generated traffic, there is also considerable resistance, especially
>at the project level.
>
>For more information on generated traffic contact Todd Litman at
>250.360.1560, or via e-mail: litman at islandnet.com, or via the
>web at http://www.islandnet.com/~litman.
>
>**********************************************
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>
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>
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A. Rahman Paul Barter
Sustainable Transport Action Network for Asia & the Pacific (SUSTRAN)
Until 15 July I am in Perth, Australia.
During that time please reach me at <barter at central.murdoch.edu.au>