This book on road traffic congestion in cities and suburbs describes congestion problems and shows how they can be relieved. The first part (Chapters 1 - 3) shows how congestion reflects transportation technologies and settlement patterns. The second part (Chapters 4 - 13) describes the causes, characteristics, and consequences of congestion. The third part (Chapters 14 - 23) presents various relief strategies - including supply adaptation and demand mitigation - for nonrecurring and recurring congestion. The last part (Chapter 24) gives general guidelines for congestion relief and provides a general outlook for the future. The book will be useful for a wide audience - including students, practitioners and researchers in a variety of professional endeavors: traffic engineers, transportation planners, public transport specialists, city planners, public administrators, and private enterprises that depend on transportation for their activities.

A Brookings Institution Press and Lincoln Institute of Land Policy publication Peak-hour traffic congestion has become a major problem in most U.S. cities. In fact, a majority of residents in metropolitan and suburban areas consider congestion their most serious local problem. As citizens have become increasingly frustrated by repeated traffic delays that cost them money and waste time, congestion has become an important factor affecting local government policies in many parts of the nation. In this new book, Anthony Downs looks at the causes of worsening traffic congestion, especially in suburban areas, and considers the possible remedies. He analyzes the specific advantages and disadvantages of every major strategy that has been proposed to reduce congestion. In nontechnical language, he focuses on two central issues: the relationships between land-use and traffic flow in rapidly growing areas, and whether local policies can effectively reduce congestion or if more regional approaches are necessary. In rapidly growing parts of the country, congestion is worse than it was five or ten years ago. But Downs notes that the problem has apparently not yet become bad enough to stimulate effective responses. Neither government officials nor citizens seem willing to consider changing the behavior and public policies that cause congestion. To alleviate the problem, both groups must be prepared to make these fundamental changes. Selected by Choice as an Outstanding Book of 1992

Microscopic models, rather than macroscopic ones that are too simplified and too aggregated, they argue, will lead to the analysis of a wider and more creative range of policies, at least some of which should work well and be politically acceptable."--Jacket.

First Published in 2007. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Traffic Congestion and Land Use Regulations: Theory and Policy Analysis explores why, when, where and how land use regulations are utilized in cities to address road transportation congestion. The book shows how to design optimal density and zonal regulations for efficient traffic flow in cities, examines land use regulations using optimal control theory, and offers detailed insights into the mechanisms behind optimal regulations and techniques for exploring spatial optimal policies. Discussions from this book will help highlight the practical usefulness of land use regulations for the maximization of urban social welfare. - Uniquely explores land use regulations and traffic congestion from both theoretical and applied perspectives - Reviews and summarizes the most recent academic research in urban economics, land use management and transportation congestion - Demonstrates important, but less commonly used regulations, such as minimum floor area regulations - Provides insights on how to construct smarter cities using the latest research in land use regulations

Reviewed federal efforts to promote more efficient management of America's roadway systems through transportation systems management (TSM) techniques. Also examines the extent to which air quality concerns affected the inclusion of TSM activities in the local transportation planning process. Charts & tables.

This book focuses on the relationship between urban land redevelopment and traffic systems and discusses the related research. Consisting of three main parts, the first analyzes the interaction between land redevelopment and traffic congestion as well as the mechanisms and causes of traffic congestion. The second part presents strategies for the prevention and control of traffic congestion under urban land redevelopment, proposing a two-stage evaluation system of traffic congestion pre-inspection and traffic impact analysis in the planning and implementation stages of land redevelopment. Lastly, the third section includes an application case analysis of the proposed traffic congestion management strategy.

Offers policy-oriented, research-based recommendations for effectively managing traffic and cutting excess congestion in large urban areas.