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>The popular meme idea of scoffing at road construction because it will just make more people drive misanthropically ignores that driving isn't purely emissions

>The popular meme idea of scoffing at road construction because it will just make more people drive misanthropically ignores that driving isn't purely emissions but it also gets people to places where they want to go, like visiting family and friends or allows them to live at a different place from where they work if that's more affordable or more to their liking. People scoff at road construction (or rather, road widening) as a solution to congestion. I don't think anyone is under the impression that kilometers driven would go down as road bandwidth goes up. >The road capacity led to more cars on the road, but also to more real demand being met. No, not necessarily. Maybe some people who would have otherwise used public transport opt to drive instead. Making roads wider could literally make them less efficient, in terms of humans moved per hour per meter of width.

bonoboTP 2mo ago
> People scoff at road construction (or rather, road widening) as a solution to congestion. I don't think anyone is under the impression that kilometers driven would go down as road bandwidth goes up. It is a solution to congestion because a part of the past congestion was that people were stuck at home and gave up on the trip overall, because it would take so long. > Maybe some people who would have otherwise used public transport opt to drive instead. Then presumably comfort increased. Also, add bus lanes.
- fluoridation 2mo ago
  >a part of the past congestion was that people were stuck at home and gave up on the trip overall That's not congestion. If someone opts not to make a trip, or uses a means of transport that doesn't use the road, such as a subway, then they didn't create road traffic. Congestion refers specifically to the failure of traffic to advance at an efficient speed along a thoroughfare. >Then presumably comfort increased. Again, "people scoff at road construction as a solution to congestion". Discomfort is not a component of congestion.

bonoboTP 2mo ago

> People scoff at road construction (or rather, road widening) as a solution to congestion. I don't think anyone is under the impression that kilometers driven would go down as road bandwidth goes up. It is a solution to congestion because a part of the past congestion was that people were stuck at home and gave up on the trip overall, because it would take so long. > Maybe some people who would have otherwise used public transport opt to drive instead. Then presumably comfort increased. Also, add bus lanes.

fluoridation 2mo ago
>a part of the past congestion was that people were stuck at home and gave up on the trip overall That's not congestion. If someone opts not to make a trip, or uses a means of transport that doesn't use the road, such as a subway, then they didn't create road traffic. Congestion refers specifically to the failure of traffic to advance at an efficient speed along a thoroughfare. >Then presumably comfort increased. Again, "people scoff at road construction as a solution to congestion". Discomfort is not a component of congestion.