Public Transit for Congestion Management

The first part of this chapter examines how the urban congestion problem is addressed in traditional transportation planning and policy making. Most analysts regard transit as a palliative rather than a real solution. The traditional view holds, however, that transit has relatively little influence on the underlying factors that generate the congestion problem. Most analysts regard transit as a palliative rather than a real solution. The second part challenges the traditional view. There we show how existing rapid transit systems exercise measurable control over congestion in the United States, and do so cost-effectively. The chapter demonstrates how transit investment and targeted fare and subsidy policies can measurably control traffic congestion probably for generations to come. It also reviews research on the pricing of public transit. The central result of this analysis is that all travelers on the highways and transit systems could be made better off by increasing transit subsidy levels in several major metropolitan areas.