Eli5: it’s said that creating larger highways doesn’t increase traffic flow because people who weren’t using it before will start. But isn’t that still a net gain?

Question

If people are being diverted from side streets to the highway because the highway is now wider, then that means side streets are cleared up. Not to mention the people who were taking side streets can now enjoy a quicker commute on the highway

In: Engineering

Answer 1

It is.

Induced demand is a sort of crackpot theory, because travel is quite inflexible in demand. Not wholly so, but if you gotta drive to work every day, that doesn’t change because of one more or fewer lanes.

Most living places/job combinations do not have a reasonable transportation substitute.