{"469161":{"#nid":"469161","#data":{"type":"external_news","title":"Eric Sundquis (PhD \u002712) says DOTs need policies to deal with effects of induced demand","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWhenever a road project gets announced, the first thing officials talk about is how it\u2019s going to reduce traffic.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENever mind that it\u2019s unclear whether major highway projects actually provide an economic boost (many of the supposed new benefits are simply a relocation of existing business activity). Congestion relief itself is a dubious claim when it comes to road expansions. Transportation experts have repeatedly found that building new roads inevitably encourages more people to drive, which in turn negates any congestion savings\u2014a phenomenon known as\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.citylab.com\/commute\/2015\/03\/the-one-chart-that-explains-all-your-traffic-woes\/386594\/\u0022\u003E\u201cinduced demand.\u201d\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESo it\u2019s refreshing\u2014and rare\u2014to see the California DOT (aka Caltrans)\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.dot.ca.gov\/research\/docs\/10-12-2015-NCST_Brief_InducedTravel_CS6_v3.pdf\u0022\u003Elink to a policy brief\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;outlining key research findings from years of study into induced demand. Here are the highlights:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThere\u2019s high-quality evidence for induced demand.\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;All the studies reviewed by Handy used time-series data, \u201csophisticated econometric techniques,\u201d and controlled for outside variables such as population growth and transit service.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMore roads means more traffic in both the short- and long-term.\u003C\/strong\u003EAdding 10 percent more road capacity leads to 3-6 percent more vehicle miles in the near term and 6-10 percent more over many years.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMuch of the traffic is brand new.\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;Some of the cars on a new highway lane have simply relocated from a slower alternative route. But many are entirely new. They reflect leisure trips that often go unmade in bad traffic, or drivers who once used transit or carpooled, or shifting development patterns, and so on.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EEric Sundquist, SCaRP PhD alumnus, of SSTI said via email that it\u2019s \u201cnotable\u201d to see Caltrans link to the policy brief, but adds that some DOTs have started to address induced demand whether they call it that or not. The big question, he says, is what policies get put in place to deal with its effects. Pennsylvania\u2019s DOT during the Ed Rendell administration, for instance, \u201cbasically stopped building new highways and diverted resources to upkeep and non-car modes,\u201d Sundquist says.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":"","uid":"28044","created_gmt":"2015-11-12 09:24:05","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 02:27:49","author":"Jessie Brandon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","publication":"Zainab Arshad","field_article_url":"","publication_url":"http:\/\/www.citylab.com\/commute\/2015\/11\/californias-dot-admits-that-more-roads-mean-more-traffic\/415245\/","dateline":{"date":"2015-11-11T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2015-11-11T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"310201":{"id":"310201","type":"image","title":"Highway at Night","body":null,"created":"1449244726","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:58:46","changed":"1475895020","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:50:20","alt":"Highway at Night","file":{"fid":"199839","name":"highway_lights_alan_stark_flickr_h.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/highway_lights_alan_stark_flickr_h_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/highway_lights_alan_stark_flickr_h_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":524787,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/highway_lights_alan_stark_flickr_h_0.jpg?itok=VrQCrBDY"}}},"media_ids":["310201"],"groups":[{"id":"1224","name":"School of City \u0026 Regional Planning"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}