Congestion

Congestion
The Enormous Challenges Ahead

Committee for Smart New Jersey

May 2001

Motivation

Congestion Defined

Congestion in Medicine

Congestion in Medicine (cont.)

Congestion in Finance

A period of time when a stock trades either below resistance, above support, or both.

Congestion in Communications

Congestion in Transportation

Congestion in Transportation (cont.)

The Traffic Engineer
- Level of service D or E
The Economist
- The difference in demand resulting from pricing roads at average cost rather than marginal cost
The Traveler
- Driving slower than the speed limit
- Waiting at intersections
- Waiting at toll plazas

Mitigating Congestion

Mitigating Congestion - Transportation

Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska)
- "The only way to relieve congestion is to increase capacity. That may mean building more highways, transit systems, runways, and airport terminals, or making it possible for our existing highways, railroads, or airports to be more efficient."
Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-Minnesota)
- "We must develop alternatives to congested infrastructure. Mass transit, for example, takes millions of cars off the overcrowded highways every day. And we need to take short-term measures to relieve congestion while we wait for infrastructure to catch up to demand."

New Jersey's Roads

Users of New Jersey's Roads

People
- Population is about 8 million
- There are about 6 million licensed drivers
Freight
- $286 billio is shipped from NJ sites
- 73% is transported by truck
- 18% is transported by couriers

Congestion in NJ

Vehicle Miles of Travel
- 50 billion in 1980
- 64 billion in 1988
- 86 billin predicted for 2025
Congested Highways
- FHWA estimates 43% are congested
- NJIT estimates $5 billion in lost time and $900 million in lost fuel

Can Travelers be Happy?

1935:
- Trips from northern Queens to 125th St. required 45 minutes via the Queensborough Bridge
July 1936: Triborough Bridge Opened
- Expected to reduce traffic on the Queensborough by 40-50%
- By August, Brooklyn Borough President Ingersoll said it was "already impossible"
April 1939: Bronx-Whitestone Opened
- 6 million vehicles in 1940
- Traffic on the Triborough fell by 100,000
- Traffic on the other four East River crossings increased

Can Travelers be Happy? (cont.)

1936 Highway Openings:
- Grand Central, Interborough and Laurelton Parkways
Expectations:
- An editorial at the time said they would solve the congestion problem "for generations".
The Reality:
- Three weeks later Paul Windells wrote "I got on the Interborough and by God it was as jammed as the Southern State ever was"

Conclusions

Congestion is perceived as an enormous problem (in many aspects of life)
Congestion can, in principle, be mitigated by reducing demand or increasing supply
I don't know how to mitigate transportation congestion
but we can spend the rest of the day listening to people who do

There's Always More to Learn