On Other Blogs
Wait, Maybe There Is a War On Cars
Riffing off a new report showing that Seattle residents are driving less than they used to---per capita, vehicle miles traveled have gone down 6 percent since 2005---Dan Bertolet at CityTank jokes, "Judging by the data, members of the Church of the Automobile might well believe there is a war on cars.
How else to explain the unprecedented wane in driving that’s been observed both locally and nationally over the past decade?"
The stats, compiled by Clark Williams-Derry at Sightline , tell the story:
Also today, a new study shows that building roads to "cure congestion" actually increases traffic---a concept that will be familiar to anyone versed in the concept of induced demand. "For interstate highways in metropolitan areas we find that VKT [vehicle kilometers traveled] increases one for one with interstate highways. ... We also uncover suggestive evidence that this law may extend beyond interstate highways to a broad class of major urban roads, a 'fundamental law of road congestion.'"
As Streetsblog DC puts it, "People drive more when there are more roads to drive on, commercial driving and trucking increases with the number of roads, and, to a lesser extent, people migrate to areas with lots of roads."
The stats, compiled by Clark Williams-Derry at Sightline , tell the story:
- Seattle: Per capita VMT down by an estimated six percent since 2005
- SR-520 bridge across Lake Washington: Traffic volumes flat for two decades
- I-90 bridge across Lake Washington: Slight decrease in traffic volume over the past decade
- I-5 Columbia River Crossing: 2010 volumes “just a hair above what they were in 1999″
- I-5 Ship Canal Bridge in Seattle: Seven percent drop in total VMT between 2003 and 2009
- Washington and Oregon (federal data): Seven percent decline in per capita VMT between 2004 and early 2011
- Washington State: Eight percent decline in per capita VMT from 2000 to 2009
- King County, WA: Ten percent decline in per capita VMT from 2000 to 2009
- Greater Portland, OR: 12 percent decline in per capita VMT between 1996 peak and 2009
Also today, a new study shows that building roads to "cure congestion" actually increases traffic---a concept that will be familiar to anyone versed in the concept of induced demand. "For interstate highways in metropolitan areas we find that VKT [vehicle kilometers traveled] increases one for one with interstate highways. ... We also uncover suggestive evidence that this law may extend beyond interstate highways to a broad class of major urban roads, a 'fundamental law of road congestion.'"
As Streetsblog DC puts it, "People drive more when there are more roads to drive on, commercial driving and trucking increases with the number of roads, and, to a lesser extent, people migrate to areas with lots of roads."
