A Traffic Engineer Hits Back at His Profession

>> We hear so much talk about urban congestion, with cities ranked by the hours drivers “lose” being stuck in traffic. How much should we care about congestion levels?

> I would say almost not at all. > > ... > > All the cities that have solved congestion have only done so because it’s a city where nobody wants to be.

Maybe no one has really "solved" congestion, but the places with the worst congestion are objectively worse places to be because of it. Mumbai, New Delhi, Lagos -- places in the developing world where there was never really even an attempt to reduce congestion.

In terms of world cities, New York and Los Angeles aren't even that bad. Compared to New Delhi, commuting in LA is a delight. And LA is still definitely a safer place to be a pedestrian. And even if you don't drive to work, congestion harms you, because you rely on services that use roads.

A more nuanced take would be that easing congestion matters, but we shouldn't design meta-cities with the idea that everyone should drive to work every day.