andrew_gelman_stats andrew_gelman_stats-2011 andrew_gelman_stats-2011-988 knowledge-graph by maker-knowledge-mining
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Introduction: Sandeep Baliga writes : [In a recent study , Gilles Duranton and Matthew Turner write:] For interstate highways in metropolitan areas we [Duranton and Turner] find that VKT (vehicle kilometers traveled) increases one for one with interstate highways, confirming the fundamental law of highway congestion.’ Provision of public transit also simply leads to the people taking public transport being replaced by drivers on the road. Therefore: These findings suggest that both road capacity expansions and extensions to public transit are not appropriate policies with which to combat traffic congestion. This leaves congestion pricing as the main candidate tool to curb traffic congestion. To which I reply: Sure, if your goal is to curb traffic congestion . But what sort of goal is that? Thinking like a microeconomist, my policy goal is to increase people’s utility. Sure, traffic congestion is annoying, but there must be some advantages to driving on that crowded road or pe
sentIndex sentText sentNum sentScore
1 ’ Provision of public transit also simply leads to the people taking public transport being replaced by drivers on the road. [sent-2, score-0.462]
2 Therefore: These findings suggest that both road capacity expansions and extensions to public transit are not appropriate policies with which to combat traffic congestion. [sent-3, score-0.537]
3 This leaves congestion pricing as the main candidate tool to curb traffic congestion. [sent-4, score-0.903]
4 To which I reply: Sure, if your goal is to curb traffic congestion . [sent-5, score-1.257]
5 Thinking like a microeconomist, my policy goal is to increase people’s utility. [sent-7, score-0.209]
6 Sure, traffic congestion is annoying, but there must be some advantages to driving on that crowded road or people wouldn’t be doing it, right? [sent-8, score-1.264]
7 I do believe that people venture out in traffic for a reason. [sent-11, score-0.415]
8 Suppose that (a) Los Angeles could immediately double its existing road system, at zero cost in dollars, effort, open space, pollution, etc. [sent-13, score-0.451]
9 , and (b) if that were done, there would be exactly twice as many cars on the road at the same exact level of congestion. [sent-14, score-0.31]
10 Twice as many people would be able to get what they want, which is to be out on the roads. [sent-16, score-0.051]
11 Suppose NYC could immediately and costlessly double the frequency of its subway trains, and suppose this would (i) draw lots of people out of their cars into the subway and (ii) draw out new drivers, so the existing roads would be as crowded as possible. [sent-18, score-1.105]
12 If the goal is to curb traffic congestion, we’ve gotten nowhere, but if the goal is to improve quality of life, we’re in great shape. [sent-19, score-0.8]
13 If there were twice as many trains, I wouldn’t have to wait as long for a train. [sent-21, score-0.15]
14 The traffic congestion doesn’t bother me so much, I can still get around. [sent-23, score-0.967]
15 If you don’t like the NYC subway example, pick your favorite alternative, for example consider a suburban bus line that changes its frequency from once per hour to once per 10 minutes. [sent-24, score-0.489]
16 Once per 10 minutes is great for bus riders—even if it does nothing to alleviate congestion, you don’t have to wait that extra 50 minutes at the bus stop. [sent-25, score-0.482]
17 Nor am I knocking congestion pricing, an idea that seems to make a lot of sense, whether or not roads and transit are increased. [sent-27, score-0.919]
18 My key point is that, yes, traffic congestion is annoying, but I don’t think it makes sense for “curbing traffic congestion” to be a primary policy goal. [sent-28, score-1.394]
19 A policy that leaves traffic congestion unchanged can still help out lots of people, inside and outside of cars. [sent-29, score-1.153]
20 In the above example, traffic congestion is a problem, but I think it’s a mistake to set the reduction of congestion as a goal in itself, or to dismiss various actions because they don’t provide progress toward that particular goal. [sent-33, score-1.716]
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