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Expanding highways and building more roads actually makes traffic worse

Second, it’s guaranteeing more of the same, in terms of roads, repair costs, pollution, and congestion. It’s the theory of induced demand: Building more roads and adding more lanes gives the appearance of speeding up traffic. But by encouraging sprawl, it spreads out stores, houses, and jobs, providing more reasons to drive more place and expanding many people’s commutes. It also adds more capacity, which is almost immediately filled up with more cars. Research by Kent Hymel of California State University of Northridge found that adding one percent more road capacity produces the exact same increase in the amount of vehicle miles traveled.

https://www.curbed.com/2020/3/6/21166655/highway-traffic-congestion-induced-demand

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