Reducing Metropolitan Area Congestion
[
Highlights]
Although billions of dollars have been spent on transportation infrastructure during the last several decades, the most common public lament about transportation concerns congestion. Congestion occurs where people concentrate, and during this same period, most people have elected to live in metropolitan areas. Between 1980 and 2000, population in these areas grew much more rapidly (27.3 percent) than in other areas (13.1 percent). By 2000, residents of metropolitan areas represented more than 80 percent of the population. The fastest growth is occurring in the peripheral counties of existing metropolitan areas, which are often the least prepared with adequate infrastructure. Moreover, the Census Bureau predicts that nearly 60 million more people will need to be housed in the next 25 years, and if past trends are indicative, they are likely to choose metropolitan areas in which to live. For these and other reasons, metropolitan areas will remain the flashpoints for policy debates about transportation.