>>1735582It’s not that simple. Why would they even be adding another lane unless an area is growing quickly and there are lots of new people on the road, ready to fill in any new space? Saying less lanes will improve traffic is like saying the solution to the train packers in Japan is less metro cars.
Induced demand people never really think of a highway as a long, varying stretch of road but rather a square sized lane model made to fit perfectly in a blog our a YouTube video.
In actuality, highways are complex systems and most traffic is due to bottlenecks having a ripple effect down the highway. Many studies show that addressing these bottlenecks by widening them does improve traffic. Lane widening does as well, but only if bottlenecks are addressed.
I think something that people also don’t factor in is that drivers prefer highways to surface streets. Sitting in stop and go traffic can be preferable for some than hitting repeated stop signs and red lights and having to make turns, especially if they have a newer car that can basically drive itself in stop and go traffic.
