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Abstract

We investigate the effect of lane kilometers of roads on vehicle-kilometers traveled (VKT) in US cities. VKT increases proportionately to roadway lane kilometers for interstate highways and probably slightly less rapidly for other types of roads. The sources for this extra VKT are increases in driving by current residents, increases in commercial traffic, and migration. Increasing lane kilometers for one type of road diverts little traffic from other types of road. We find no evidence that the provision of public transportation affects VKT. We conclude that increased provision of roads or public transit is unlikely to relieve congestion. (JEL R41, R48)

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File URL: http://www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/aer.101.6.2616
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Bibliographic Info

Article provided by American Economic Association in its journal American Economic Review.

Volume (Year): 101 (2011)
Issue (Month): 6 (October)
Pages: 2616-52

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Handle: RePEc:aea:aecrev:v:101:y:2011:i:6:p:2616-52

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Find related papers by JEL classification:

• L91 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Transportation: General
• R41 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Systems - - - Transportation: Demand, Supply, and Congestion

References

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Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:

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Citations

Blog mentions

As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:

1. I-405 Expansion in LA Offers a Case Study of the Fundamental Law of Traffic Congestion
   by Matthew E. Kahn in Environmental and Urban Economics on 2010-01-07 01:19:00
2. Can Improvements in Atlanta's Public Transit Infrastructure Reduce Road Congestion?
   by Matthew Kahn in Environmental and Urban Economics on 2012-07-15 22:15:00
3. Why new roads do not alleviate congestion
   by Olaf Storbeck in Economics Intelligence on 2011-10-24 21:32:08
4. Wer Stra�en sät, wird Staus ernten
   by Olaf Storbeck in Handelsblog on 2011-10-19 14:26:40

Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.

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Cited by:

1. Martin Koning, 2010. "The Social Cost of Road Congestion in Ile-de-France Region (and France): Empirical Evidences from the Paris Ring-Road," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) halshs-00467888, HAL.
2. Miquel- Àngel Garcia-López, 2012. "Urban spatial structure, suburbanization and transportation in Barcelona," Working Papers 2012/11, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).
3. Miquel- Àngel Garcia-López & Adelheid Holl & Elisabet Viladecans-Marsal, 2013. "Suburbanization and highways: when the romans, the bourbons and the first cars still shape Spanish cities," Working Papers 2013/5, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).
4. Quentin David & Renaud Foucart, 2012. "Modal choice and optimal congestion," CREA Discussion Paper Series 12-03, Center for Research in Economic Analysis, University of Luxembourg.
5. Peter Gordon & Wendell Cox, 2012. "Cities in Western Europe and the United States: do policy differences matter?," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer, vol. 48(2), pages 565-594, April.
6. Althaus, Catherine & Tedds, Lindsay M & McAVoy, Allen, 2011. "The feasibility of implementing a congestion charge on the Halifax Peninsula: filling the 'Missing Link' of implementation," MPRA Paper 39790, University Library of Munich, Germany.
   
   • Catherine Althaus & Lindsay M. Tedds & Allen McAvoy, 2011. "The Feasibility of Implementing a Congestion Charge on the Halifax Peninsula: Filling the "Missing Link" of Implementation," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 37(4), pages 541-561, December.
7. Gilles Duranton & Peter Morrow & Matthew Turner, 2013. "Roads and Trade: Evidence from the U.S," Working Papers tecipa-479, University of Toronto, Department of Economics.
8. Viard, Brian & Fu, Shihe, 2011. "The effect of Beijing’s driving restrictions on pollution and economic activity," MPRA Paper 33009, University Library of Munich, Germany.
9. Francisco Gallego & Juan-Pablo Montero & Christian Salas, 2011. "The Effect of Transport Policies on Car Use: Theory and Evidence from Latin American Cities," Documentos de Trabajo 407, Instituto de Economia. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile..
10. Ghani, Ejaz & Goswami, Arti Grover & Kerr, William R., 2013. "Highway to success in India : the impact of the golden quadrilateral project for the location and performance of manufacturing," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6320, The World Bank.
11. Partridge, Mark D. & Rickman, Dan S., 2012. "Integrating regional economic development analysis and land use economics," MPRA Paper 38291, University Library of Munich, Germany.
12. Rafael Lalive & Simon Luechinger & Armin Schmutzler, 2013. "Does Supporting Passenger Railways Reduce Road Traffic Externalities?," ECON - Working Papers 110, Department of Economics - University of Zurich.
    
    • Lalive, Rafael & Luechinger, Simon & Schmutzler, Armin, 2013. "Does Supporting Passenger Railways Reduce Road Traffic Externalities?," CEPR Discussion Papers 9335, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
13. Rosa Sanchis-Guarner, 2012. "Driving Up Wages: The Effects of Road Construction in Great Britain," SERC Discussion Papers 0120, Spatial Economics Research Centre, LSE.

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