More Highways = More Pollution

In a March 2004 report from US PIRG Education Fund, "More Highways, More Pollution: Road-Building and Air Pollution in America's Cities," researchers found that building new highways does little to relieve traffic congestion in the long-run and instead worsens air quality problems in metropolitan areas throughout the country.

This is because building highways increases driving instead of relieving traffic - the phenomenon is called "induced traffic." According to the report, the distance that we drive or vehicle-miles traveled (VMT) nationwide has increased by 150 percent since 1970. In addition, cities with more major highway capacity have higher levels of car pollution per capita.

These findings make the equation "more highways = more pollution" clear. Instead of trying to solve air quality problems by expanding roadways, we must aim to reduce the amount we all must drive. This can be achieved by expanding transit and making wise decisions about development and land use so that people have more opportunities to walk, bike, use transit and drive shorter distances (more on smart growth)

For more from the report:
http://uspirg.org/uspirg.asp?id2=12484&id3=USPIRG&