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Do highway widening reduce congestion?

Author

Listed:
  • Ioulia Ossokina

    (Eindhoven University of Technology)

  • Jos van Ommeren

    (VU Amsterdam)

  • Henk van Mourik

    (Ministry of Infrastructure and Rijkswaterstaat)

Abstract

Highway construction occurs nowadays mainly through widening of ex- isting roads rather than building new roads. This paper documents that highway widenings considerably reduce congestion in the short run, defined here as 6 years. Using longitudinal microdata from highway detector loops in the Netherlands, we find substantial travel time savings. These savings occur despite strong increases in traffic flow. The welfare benefits in the short run already cover 40% of the widenings’ investment costs. Our paper contributes to an explanation why countries invest in roadworks even when the fundamental law of congestion predicts that travel savings disappear in the long run.

Suggested Citation

  • Ioulia Ossokina & Jos van Ommeren & Henk van Mourik, "undated". "Do highway widening reduce congestion?," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 22-010/VII, Tinbergen Institute.
    • Handle: RePEc:tin:wpaper:20220010
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Jinwon Kim & Jucheol Moon & Dongyun Yang, 2024. "Pigouvian Congestion Tolls and the Welfare Gain: Estimates for California Freeways," Working Papers 2402, Nam Duck-Woo Economic Research Institute, Sogang University (Former Research Institute for Market Economy).
    2. Anas, Alex, 2024. "“Downs's Law” under the lens of theory: Roads lower congestion and increase distance traveled," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    highway widening; congestion; traffic flow; welfare effects; economic activity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • R3 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location
    • R33 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location - - - Nonagricultural and Nonresidential Real Estate Markets
    • R4 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics
    • R42 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - Government and Private Investment Analysis; Road Maintenance; Transportation Planning
    • H4 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods

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