Self-study
A research study revealed that, in most cases, once existing highways near urban areas are widened and extended in an attempt to reduce traffic congestion and resulting delays for motorists, these problems actually increase rather than decrease.
"Surprising" Phenomenon
Why do traffic congestion and delay problems increase after widening and extending highways in urban areas?
Objective
The correct answer should suggest a difference between having wider, more extended roads and having less wide, less extended roads. This difference should create the potential for more congestion when roads are wider and more extended.
1.
Which one of the following, ██ █████ ████ █████ ██ ███████ ███ ███████████ ███████ ███ ████████ ███████ ██ ███ ███████ ████████████ ███ ███ ███████ ████████ ██ ███ ██████
a
Widened and extended █████ ████ ██ ███████ ████ ████ █████████ ████ ████ ████ ██████ █████ ████████████
Wider, more extended roads could lead to more congestion by attracting a lot more drivers. This effect could more than outweigh whatever decrease in congestion the physically wider roads create.
b
Typically, road widening ██ █████████ ████████ ███ ██████████ ████ █████ ███ ██████████ ████ ███ ████ ██ ████████ ███ █████████ ███ ████ ███████ ████ ███████ █ ██████ ███████ ██████████ ██████
We’d still expect wider roads to lead to less congestion. Maybe these projects only occur in highly-populated areas; wider roads can still allow people to drive more freely and with less delays.
c
As a general █████ ███ ███████ ███ ██████ ██ █████ ██ █ █████ ██████ ██ ████████ ███ █████ ███ ████ ██ █████████ ███ ███████ ████████ █████████ ██ ███
It’s not clear how the accident rate relates to congestion and delay.
d
Rural, as compared ██ ██████ ███████ ███████ ████████ █ ██████ ██████████ ██ ██████ ███ ████████ ████ ██ ████████
The discrepancy involves urban areas. A comparison to rural areas doesn’t explain why wider, more extensive roads in urban areas leads to more congestion.
e
Urban traffic generally █████ ██ █ ██████ ████ ███ ████████ ████ ██████████ ███ ██████ ████ █████ ███ ████████ ████████
The discrepancy involves urban areas. A comparison to rural areas doesn’t explain why wider, more extensive roads in urban areas leads to more congestion.