Many walkable cities experience road congestion at levels higher than their car-friendly counterparts. In a review of 74 cities, we compared Tomtom’s congestion index with car use. The results: more congestion equals less car use. It begs the question – why are we chasing congestion solutions?

Can low congestion and walkable urban context co-exist?

Planning policy has changed to help transition cities into more walkable, dense urban forms. But what about for those of us who drive? Is it really possible to have both?The Complete Streets concept tries to take the focus off one over the other, promoting balance. It is perhaps one of the better branded (and recycled) ideas in urban transport planning in the last quarter century. A complete street is a street that tries to provide pedestrians, cyclists, transit, and cars with facilities all on the same street.

The problem is there usually isn’t enough space on the road for everyone. Typically (at least in a North American context) this means taking space away from cars to “re-balance” the situation and improve conditions for other users. Sometimes it’s possible to fix traffic light timing or undertake creative lane re-configurations to keep cars moving at the same rate, but many of these practices have already been exploited. And so, the perceived “war on cars” persists. For progressives who favour sustainable travel, perhaps it’s not such a bad thing. Urban dwellers who travel by car regularly may think otherwise.

The Easy Out – solving both (improve congestion and sustainable transportation modes together)

Politicians have recently supported both improvements for sustainable transport as well as car congestion reduction and allow city officials to solve the issue on the ground – a prospect which seems to re-ignite the “war on cars” debate.

Prague has high levels of traffic congestion. Still, only the vast majority of trips are not by car (only 33% drive)

You can’t do both

A city can provide people with a beautiful shaded sidewalk, but it doesn’t mean people will use it. It’s not simply a matter of making non-car travel attractive, but recognizing that people select their mode of travel through relative comparison with other options. The more a city improves driving conditions, the easier it will be for people to stay in their cars.

Tomtom’s congestion index indicates a number of the cities with high congestion ratings (e.g. Vancouver, San Francisco, Stockholm, Stuttgart, New York, etc.). What it doesn’t indicate is that these many of these cities have viable and attractive alternatives to getting into traffic. On the flip side, cities with low congestion seem to exhibit very high levels of car use. The 10 least congested cities ranked all had more than 93% of daily trips done by car.

According to Jonas Eliasson with the Center for Transport Studies (Stockholm), every day people make new decisions. Policymakers around the world are pushing the envelope to make sustainable travel modes more attractive. But if the rate of making improvements for driving is relatively the same (or greater), it’s only serving to undermine sustainable transport policies.

[Literature Review / Sources: Victoria Transport Policy Institute, Stockholm Center for Transport Studies, various transport mode share statistical sources, Tomtom’s congestion index]