Road congestion: What's the deal?

Ever been late for work and blamed the traffic? The likelihood is (assuming the excuse is true) that you were in fact causing the traffic, too. After all, your car forms part of a line and is holding up the car behind. So by definition, we do not just get stuck in traffic, we produce it. Traffic congestion comes in all shapes and sizes, usually in towns and cities, but not always: the longest traffic jam ever recorded occurred not in New York or Tokyo or Mexico City, but on the French motorway between Lyon and Paris on 16 February 1980. It tailed back for 176 km (109 miles).

Congestion is inefficient, polluting and dangerous. So why not reduce it? Removing just 5% of traffic at peak times could substantially reduce or even eliminate rush hour congestion from many cities. One approach that is beginning to stoke interest among municipal leaders, even in large metropolitan capitals like Paris and London, is road pricing. The theory seems sound enough: introduce a price on bringing cars into congested areas that incite drivers either not to travel unnecessarily or to vary their times of travel or, indeed, to try public transport, walking or cycling. With the right approach, drivers who incur higher prices during rush hour periods would benefit from reduced congestion and travel time, while non-essential travel would take place at less congested and cheaper times.