The government must encourage people to drive less. The failure of this oft-repeated mantra is evident by my earlier statistics on the growth of the number of drivers, vehicles, and miles driven. And as to shifting to transit, most Americans seem content with driving to work alone as a result, despite tens of billions in transit subsidies spent from 1990-2000, transit's share of all trips has declined and its share of commutes has remained the same. Second, government should fund specific programs to encourage or force people out of their cars. Idling in traffic jams and frequent accelerations caused by start-stop traffic not only waste time, but burn billions of gallons of fuel unnecessarily.
Traffic congestion is the one element of fuel consumption that is getting worse and worse.
The great thing about reducing gridlock is that it not only reduces fuel consumption and wasted time on the road, it also improves highway safety and air quality. The fuel saving benefits associated with bottleneck relief are just the tip of the iceberg. The overall economic value of these beneficial by-products of congestion relief is astonishing. Copies of Saving Time, Saving Money can be accessed by clicking here and Unclogging can be accessed here . The Highway Users doesn't encourage people to drive and we don't try to put more trucks on the road.