A transport condition marked by slower speeds, longer trip times and increased vehicular queuing, arising when travel demand approaches or exceeds roadway capacity. It has grown substantially on urban road networks since the 1950s, and adding lanes is an ineffective remedy because added capacity induces more demand for driving.
Facts
Core ConcernDemand exceeding road capacity, slowing everyone in the stream 1 FAQs
Why does adding more road lanes usually fail to fix traffic congestion?
Added road capacity tends to induce more demand for driving, which erodes the relief the new lanes were meant to provide.
Traffic congestion is a transport condition marked by slower speeds, longer trip times and increased vehicle queuing, arising when travel demand approaches or exceeds roadway capacity. It has grown substantially on urban road networks since the 1950s, and simply adding lanes is an ineffective remedy because the added capacity induces more demand for driving, which erodes much of the relief the new lanes were meant to provide.
Connections
Exemplifies
Induced Demand, Concepts The congestion article invokes induced demand as the reason lane additions fail.
Source Wikipedia: Traffic Congestion
Followed By
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Traffic Congestion
WikipediaLead section
When traffic demand is great enough that the interaction between vehicles slows the traffic stream, this results in congestion.
In Group: Road Congestion Concepts, Lead sentence
Traffic congestion is a condition in transport that is characterized by slower speeds, longer trip times, and increased vehicular queuing.
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