Road design, transportation and walkability

[WLU]

A road widening may be initiated in response to demand, but that doesn't contradict induced demand. To explain briefly: at a certain point, a road reaches a saturation point. The number of people using the road balances the number of people avoiding it. I may start using that road, but at the same time, someone else is making the decision to use another, or take transit, or work from home. Expanding a road changes that equation. It does lower congestion for a time, but as more people use the road, existing users don't have an incentive to not use it any more until it once again reaches a saturation point.

Basically, induced demand simply acknowledges that the supply of a particular transportation mode - whether that be roads or transit or bike lanes - affects the demand toward certain modes. Supply and demand works on roads just as it does for any other good.

It's additionally hilarious that they talk about the MTO...which is King of induced demand. You might argue that car use in the city is at least equally affected by land use as it is road building, but the MTO's construction almost exclusively drives induced demand. Cities, companies, houses, shopping, people, jobs, are where they are almost as a direct result of MTO built expressways--subdivisions advertise the highways as features.


No "they" here.  I'm one person, singular.  A bit of a spin wouldn't you say.  You're intentionally taking MTO out of the context in which I was using them.  But, since you mentioned it, tell me what city is where it is as a result of the 401 being built?