Have you ever noticed that the more we extend and widen congested roads to ease traffic, the more they continue to fill up with additional traffic? This counterintuitive phenomenon is called ‘induced traffic’. And it’s a real headache for city planners, especially as they try to plan infrastructure projects around reducing emissions.
Some road-building projects create more induced traffic than others. To help policymakers and planners predict the increase in traffic after major new road projects, a team of researchers have created a tool that is specifically tailored to the New Zealand context. The tool is easy to use and gives users a clear idea about how to mitigate the impacts of a road-building project.
The research report and the prototype tool are available below.
Keywords:
induced demand, transport modelling
Authors:
A Byett, ECPC Limited, Taupō
J Laird, Peak Economics, Inverness
J Falconer, QTP Limited, Christchurch
P Roberts, QTP Limited, Christchurch
