>What happend on the A10-West was that the authorities increased the
>price for using the road (by lowering the speed limit), and reduced its
>utility (by the closing of ramps), and as a result demand for the road
>was lowered. For six weeks many people used other routes, or other means
>of transportation. The amazing thing is that demand dropped far enough
>that traffic delays disappeared.
If you are right that it was always jammed up before then the actual speed of travel
had to be less than the new speed limit so that couldn't have been a factor increasing
the "price." However, its very easy for me to imagine that if you closed the entrance
to the Washington DC beltway by my house that I would decrease my usage of the beltway
by a lot more than 25%. I think that is the obvious explanation for the drop in usage.
-- Bill Dickens
William T. Dickens
The Brookings Institution
1775 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: (202) 797-6113
FAX: (202) 797-6181
E-MAIL: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
AOL IM: wtdickens
