Once upon a time, a major city tore down one of its most vital highways. A highway that carried 168,000 cars per day. They replaced that highway with a river, parkland and some smaller roads. And, guess what? Traffic didn’t get any worse. Instead many other things, such as pollution and quality of life, got better. It was a great day for urban planners all over the world.

How is this possible? How can it be that a reduction in highways doesn’t halt traffic and bring an industrious city to its knees?

You’d be forgiven if you have ever been stuck in traffic and thought “more lanes would help ease this congestion”. However, decades of research done by traffic engineers, economists and social scientists shows us that building more roads actually makes traffic worse. Here to explain why are the great guys writing over at Autopia:

What’s Up With That: Building Bigger Roads Actually Makes Traffic Worse | Autopia |