A broken algorithm that affected American transportation
As some others have mentioned, I don&#x27;t think that induced demand or the failure to prevent congestion are failings of the model itself. A congested 5 lane road still has a higher throughput than a congested 2 lane road.<p>However, the largest problem I see which the article briefly touches on is the failure to even consider building something  besides a freeway. A `correct` model should be screaming to build public transport.<p>However, consider the following circumstances:<p>1. As it is many people are forced to have a car even if public transport can serve their main commute but often public transport is more expensive than the marginal cost of driving a vehicle (i.e gas + upkeep) so they choose to drive unless the congestion is extreme (i.e one of the worst commutes in the US).<p>2. Even if public transport is pretty decent (commute + groceries), they just happen to already have a car because their previous location did not have public transport. So we are back at #1. Or I don&#x27;t know if I&#x27;ll move in a year or two so might as well keep the car.<p>3. OR now that I have a car , I would probably not want to have to pay for expensive parking (&amp; housing) in an area with public transport plus now I&#x27;ll have to pay a mechanic a premium to even change the oil. So instead I live further away thus reinforcing the need to keep the car.<p>4 &amp; etc. I need to travel &gt;50 miles (skiing, hiking), renting is a pain and long trip ride sharing is expensive. Groceries are easier to do with a car especially when buying in bulk (Although, if&#x2F;when I can get Costco delivered same or 2-day with perishables at &lt;=10% premium, then this is a moot point).<p>Cars are pretty (at least marginally or per mile) cheap in America and we do a very poor job making the alternatives attractive if not impossible. Anyone who has a car seems to drive it even if public transport could be used (again outside of super specific commutes in a few cities). Until we can either make car ownership&#x2F;use more expensive or greatly increase the practicality of not having a car at all, anticipate having a car and being stuck in traffic at least part of the time.