Build roads, congest more?

[Prince George]

One of the things that's really interesting about traffic modelling and about economics are the results that seem paradoxical or at least counter-intuitive. For example - it's possible to build a new connection in a network and increase congestion without increasing the amount of traffic on the network. It's called the Braes Paradox and it happens because the actors in the situation are looking to optimise their own outcomes, not to optimise the system as a whole.

http://daily.sightline.org/daily_score/ ... congestion

I find the idea that there are roads in London that could be removed to improve congestion to be a really intriguing idea. But some parts of this country aren't so interested in book-learning, like Texas - the Lone Star State doesn't waste it's time with namby-pamby mathematics, it gets things done. Like solving traffic problems in western Houston by building an 23 mile long 18-lane highway:

http://daily.sightline.org/daily_score/ ... does-right

30 years ago, Katy was a town some 20 miles from Houston, now it's been incorporated into the city and it's the terminus of that road (the Katy Freeway). The Governor described the traffic noise as "the sound of Freedom". Well, the Queen and I drove down that road over the summer, and I can tell you that we too heard the sound of Freedom, and we smelled the odour of Freedom, and in the air we could see the particulate of Freedom glowing like amber waves of grain in the sky.

The real irony of the "freedom" idea is that there is no transit option - to participate freely in this town, you must be able to buy and run a car. I guess that being obliged to spend that money is the price of freedom (along with the "eternal vigilance" thing).

[AtD]

Thought provoking articles Prince George. Braess's Paradox looks like an interesting theory. I wonder how many roads in SA it applies to?

Just browsing through wikipeida, Downs Thomson Paradox sounds interesting too.

Downs-Thomson paradox, also referred to as the Pigou-Knight-Downs paradox, states that the equilibrium speed of car traffic on the road network is determined by the average door-to-door speed of equivalent journeys by (rail-based or otherwise segregated) public transport.

It follows that increasing road capacity can actually make overall congestion on the road worse. This occurs when the shift from public transport causes a disinvestment in the mode such that the operator either reduces frequency of service or raises fares to cover costs. This shifts additional passengers into cars. Ultimately the system may be eliminated and congestion on the original (expanded) road is worse than before.