Still Stuck in Traffic: Coping with Peak-Hour Traffic Congestion (Revised) (James A. Johnson Metro) [Paperback]

Anthony Downs (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2004 | ISBN-10: 0815719299 | ISBN-13: 978-0815719298 | Edition: Revised

Congested roads waste commuters' time, cost them money, and degrade the environment. Most Americans agree that traffic congestion is the major problem in their communities --and it only seems to be getting worse. In this revised and expanded edition of his landmark work Stuck in Traffic, Anthony Downs examines the benefits and costs of various anticongestion strategies. Drawing on a significant body of research by transportation experts and land-use planners, he counters environmentalists and road lobbyists alike by explaining why seemingly simple solutions, such as expanding public transit or expanding roads, have unintended consequences that cancel out their apparent advantages. He argues that while there might be some measurable gains from increasing housing densities, most other land-use strategies have little effect. Indeed, the most powerful solutions, including higher gasoline taxes, increased public funding for transit, and highway tolls, are also the least palatable politically. St ill Stuck in Traffic contains new material on the causes of congestion, its dynamics, and its relative incidence in various parts of the country. In clear and realistic terms, Downs seeks to explore why traffic congestion has become part of modern American life and how it can be kept under control.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Downs is an engaging writer. The book's strengths inhere largely in his plausible and clear arguments which usually rely on easily understood back-of-the-envelope methods of analysis...Still Stuck in Traffic remains essential reading for the master's-level student of transport and for practising transport planners, providing a very good overview of the urban system in which traffic congestion arises, as well as the clearest and most comprehensive evaluation of policy efforts to make road use more efficient." --Daniel G. Chatman, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, Rutgers University, Urban Studies

About the Author

Anthony Downs is a senior fellow in the Economic Studies Program at the Brookings Institution. His specialties are housing, real estate, real estate finance, metropolitan planning, demographics, and transportation. His books include New Visions for Metropolitan America (Brookings/Lincoln Institute for Land Policy, 1994), and Still Stuck in Traffic: Coping with Peak-Hour Traffic Congestion (Brookings, 2004).

Product Details

• Paperback: 472 pages
• Publisher: Brookings Institution Press; Revised edition (April 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0815719299
• ISBN-13: 978-0815719298
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 1.1 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #267,797 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #91 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Sociology > Rural

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars best book in urban transportation planning May 18, 2013

By misikir s.mengistu

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

If you want to know in detail about transporation planning ,specilally congestion,this book is the best book ever to referer and know about this transportation problem.

0 of 3 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Rubber head author January 8, 2013

By Jeff

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is probably one of the few books I have read that goes totally in the wrong direction. In this book, he discusses the problems with traffic using the same frame that has been used the past 50 years ... V/C ratios and such. Nothing new here. The only value of this book is for those who want to understand exactly what is wrong with urban planning. This book is essentially a step-by-step guide on how to take the humanity out of urbanity.