If there were one more lane added to every highway, would the traffic get less congested on each highway?

Question

also, on any other road?

Answer 1

yes

Answer 2

NOPE, it's the way people drive that make the traffic back up.

On a four lane freeway, the left two lanes are tied up by trucks, the #2 lanes tied up the people who should be in the slow lane, and the # 1 lane are taken up by the people that should be in the number 3 lane, if people used the correct lane it would open the freeways...

Answer 3

Not in my opinion, it is akin to telling someone to loose weight by getting a larger belt - they are still fat.

In order to lose weight in traffic we need to build infrastructure for light rail trains.  Until that point it's traffic and more traffic.

Answer 4

It certainly will.  If you have 2 lanes of traffic in each direction and you add a 3rd, that means 33% fewer cars will be in each lane.  Fewer cars per lane means less conngestion.

This won't help congestion at entry/exit points and on local roads where traffic still needs to pass through intersections.

It's simple math, not sure what these others are thinking...

Answer 5

In the very short term, I would say yes. However, there would be major congestion and accidents due to the adding a lane. As we have seen on many highways that go from 2 lanes to 3, they have to close a lane to do the work of adding one. That makes people drive on the shoulder of the road, which increases the danger.

Also, I say the short term because the root problem is the sheer number of people driving. That number grows every day. Yes, it would alleviate the congestion only until the number of drivers again grows to the point of filling those 3 lanes to the same number per lane you had with 2 lanes. In the last 20 years, the number of drivers has doubled. It looks like it will do so again within another 20.

Q~

Answer 6

Probably not, that would just lead to faster driving during heavy trafic times and more accidents.  Wrecks caust the most and longest tie ups.

That's just my opinoin.

Answer 7

If you visit the Transportation Research Board (trb.org) you would find many studies and research that has shown that added lanes increase traffic volumes, and thereby increase congestion. Carpool lanes are an exception. The effect is the same for arterial streets. The Federal Highway Administration has strict standards for highways when state DOTs plan to add lanes to sections of the highway system, and it requires DOTs to prove and submit traffic engineering forecasts that congestion will be minimal on exit/entrance ramps and surrounding off-streets over a 20 year period.

Answer 8

Actually, this is a tricky question.  I am not an expert on transportation engineering, but my understanding is that if the number of cars is kept the same AND each highway is expanded by the same PERCENTAGE (not number of lanes), then traffic congestion would go down.  However, this isn't realistic, because if they expand all the roads, then the number of people using the road would go up.  The number of cars on the street is based on the demand and supply for the road.  So if congestion temporarily went down, people would be more motivated to drive, and eventually we would shift back to the same equilibrium point.