Twin Cities Traffic Congestion: It’s No Accident

Preview:

Congestion may be the most important problem facing the Twin Cities. Not only does congestion cost the region billions of dollars a year—an amount greater than the entire budget of the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDot)—it is growing rapidly. The total number of hours Twin Cities commuters waste sitting in traffic doubles every 11 years and nearly octupled between 1982 and 2014.

Unfortunately, as Mark Twain said about the weather, everyone talks about congestion but no one does anything about it. Some government officials actually believe that congestion is good because it supposedly saves energy and reduces air pollution by forcing some people out of their cars and onto transit, bicycles, or other alternative forms of transportation. In fact, it appears that the rapid growth in congestion is partly, if not mainly, due to government policies aimed at promoting alternatives to driving, rather than at relieving congestion.

Twin Cities Traffic Congestion: It’s No Accident will look at the cost of Twin Cities congestion, the causes of that congestion, and ways of fixing the problem. Rather than recommending one particular course of action, the paper will present a smorgasbord of alternatives, with benefits and costs for each, and let the reader decide which make the most sense.

A full copy of the report can be viewed here.