The Road More Traveled. Why the Congestion Crisis Matters More Than You Think and What We Can Do About It

Gridlock and traffic congestion are becoming ways of life for all motorists. Not just in urban areas during morning and afternoon commutes to and from work, but at any and all times in large and small urban and suburban locations. The unpredictability of congestion means that most motorists build some additional time into their travel schedule to accommodate delays. Many studies have been done measuring the time spent sitting in traffic and have found the average American spends more than forty seven hours a year not moving and costs nearly $1000. The authors argue that adding capacity does not simply mean adding more pavement and provide 10 congestion busting ideas which can be implemented at much lower costs and faster than building new roads and highways: 1. expand limited access roads and highways where necessary and inefficient; 2. add and improve higher volume intersections and arterials; 3. devise creative design and construction planning such as tunnels and elevated highways; 4. implement aggressive incident monitoring; 5. expand the number of high-occupancy toll lanes; 6. increase the number of one-way streets; 7. reevaluate traffic signal optimization; 8. expand the use of ramp metering; 9. promote telecommuting and working at home and 10. educate commuters about the real cost of parking.

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  • Corporate Authors:

    Rowman & Littlefield

    4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200
    Lanham, MD  United States  20706
  • Authors:
    • Balaker, Ted
    • Staley, Sam
  • Publication Date: 2006

Language

  • English

Media Info

  • Media Type: Print
  • Features: Figures;
  • Pagination: 186p

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 01036776
  • Record Type: Publication
  • ISBN: 0742551121
  • Files: TRIS
  • Created Date: Nov 14 2006 9:14AM