Do we really have a traffic problem?

One only needs to view I-5 on during the afternoon "rush hours" to get a good idea of just how much traffic exists in Seattle and surrounding areas. Better yet, try to drive somewhere downtown around 4:30 on a Friday afternoon. The traffic problem is not just limited to I-5. Every other freeway or highway near the Seattle area is as bad, if not worse. Seattle has traffic, and it's not going anywhere.

Why is traffic a problem?

Traffic a.k.a. congestion creates a variety of problems. Congestion wastes a tremendous amount of time. All those people stuck in a traffic jam loss precious minutes of their lives behind the wheel. The loss of time for a family member means less time with the family, or less time making money to support the family. So there are potentially two losses - economic or social.

Congestion creates more air pollution. Those people aren't alone in traffic. They are also inside their idling cars, which are pouring out pollutants while everyone waits. In the summer, the problem worsens because drivers run their air conditioning, which causes the engines to work even harder and produce even more pollutants. If traffic were flowing more smoothly, much of this idling time would be eliminated, and air quality would improve.

The fuel source of today's autos comes from fossil fuels, which are not renewable. Someday demand will drive up the cost of fossil fuels until it is no longer affordable for common uses like driving. Until that day comes, however, our nation continues to rely on outside sources of fossil fuel and is held at the whim of oil-exporting countries.

Pavement is taking over our lives. Vast tracts of pavement spring up everywhere for the sake of the automobile. We are increasing living in a concrete jungle, and we cannot escape it by moving away. The bad part about pavement, beside it being fairly permanent, is that it affects air, water, and land quality in all its stages--production, use, and disposal.

Finally, resources devoted to paving roads, fixing traffic problems, and gasoline regulation could be much better spent on issues like education.

How does it affect me?

Your health. The air you breathe is affected by all of the pollution produced by cars--especially when you are tailpipe-to-bumper in traffic. Time that could be spent exercising and decreasing stress is instead spent behind the wheel, raising your blood pressure and increasing stress.

Your time. Time you spend in traffic is time that could be spent with your family. Wouldn't you like to get an extra half-hour per day at your home?

Your quality of life. Polluted air contributes to many cases of asthma, especially in inner cities. Polluted water raises filtration costs and taxes due to the affect on animals such as salmon. Paved land replaces parks or reserves and eliminates homes for wildlife.

What can I do to solve the problem?

Live close to work. This sounds strange, but living close to your job is one of the best ways to reduce your commute and help the traffic problem. Some people have real reasons for which they cannot choose where they live or work, but most don't. The next time you change jobs or locations, think about how you are going to get to work.

Use pollution-reducing transit for commuting and travel. Use an alternative to driving-alone--telecommute, bicycle, walk, take mass transit, or carpool. These alternatives help reduce the traffic problem and almost always are beneficial to you.

Support alternatives to driving alone. Even if you don't use alternatives like the ones listed directly above, please support their use. After all, if more people use the bus, it takes that many more cars off the road. Support employer incentives for alternatives such as subsidized bus passes, bike parking, showers, and lockers.

What about electric cars and other solutions

Electric cars do not solve the traffic problem. While the electric car and gasoline-electric hybrids do help reduce many of the problems of pollution, they leave the issues of traffic and pavement untouched. Electric cars might help alleviate the air pollution problem, but they will not fix the traffic problem.

Building new roads and increasing road capacity do not help. The Iron Law of Freeway Congestion (taken from "There's No Such Thing As a Freeway"--see Resources at the end of this document) basically says that any attempts to reduce congestion will fail because people will rush to fill the gap left by the reduction.

The reasoning behind the Iron Law is as follows: Sane people will try to schedule their car trips—doctors’ appointments, shopping, work, if possible—to avoid the hassle of rush hour. But if you reduce rush hour headaches, people will be more tempted to schedule their trips during that time. It’s as if there is an equilibrium level of commuting frustration. Try to reduce the frustration level, and more people will hop on the road, bringing it back up to where it was before.

Robert Franciosi, Ph.D.

So how can carpools, bicycling, walking, and public transit help if the Iron Law is in effect? Alternatives reduce the number of cars on the road, and therefore ease congestion. This causes an easier commute, and less people schedule their trips during other times, and so the net effect on congestion is minimal. Well, not quite. We have in fact not made a dent in congestion, but we have moved more people during the same time. Thus, if we were to keep increasing the number of people taking alternatives, we would see a constant number of other cars on the road, but more people could be moved in the same time period.

This is not to advocate shoving everyone in a bus and carting them downtown. The idea is that even if the Iron Law is in effect, there are ways to move more people during rush hour. Conversely, if we increase the number of carpool lanes and public transit lanes on a freeway, we should see an increase in the number of people moved during rush hour.

Building new roads will not solve our traffic problem. It will add to the air, water, and land pollution problems when we could simply move more people more efficiently using other methods.

Resources