Can Traffic Be Good for the Environment?

When it turns frustrated drivers to different modes like transit, walking, biking and carpooling, says writer David Owen.

1 minute read

October 12, 2009, 9:00 AM PDT

By Tim Halbur


David Owen, author of the recent book Green Metropolis, writes that "Time lost to traffic delays has an obvious cost-all those stalled commuters could be working at their desks or interacting with their children instead of fuming at other drivers-but perceptions of productivity are among the factors that commuters weigh when they consider where to live and how to travel to work. Reducing congestion increases the productivity of solo driving, and that increases the incentive to drive-a bad result for the environment."

Saturday, October 10, 2009 in The Wall St. Journal

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