Improvements designed to ease congestion often attract more traffic requiring more improvements in the future. Increased highway capacity may result in the spread of development to peripheral areas, leaving vacant and abandoned areas behind. Traffic volumes and choices of mode of travel are influenced by the location, density and mixture of land uses. Communities that separate land uses reinforce driving as the mode of choice. Low density land uses also encourage driving and require longer travel times.
More people walk in compact, mixed use centers.
The layout and design of land uses can affect the choice of mode of travel. Low density commercial and residential developments, often with big road setbacks, large lots and low density, can discourage walking and bicycling. Buildings set far apart by vast parking areas, liberal landscaping and wide access roads discourage walking between uses. Connected sidewalks, attractive walking environments, and pedestrian crosswalks in compact settlements encourage more walking trips. Land use planning and access management need to work together.