Jammed.

PhysOrg reveals the high cost of gridlock. All that congestion blocks job growth as well as cars:

A new UC Irvine study found that places with sluggish commutes – usually an indication of economic prosperity – tend to have slower subsequent job growth. The findings suggest that more efficient public infrastructure projects, while costly, can spur local economic growth.

…

Kent Hymel, a UCI doctoral candidate in economics… found that if freeway capacity in the Los Angeles metropolitan area (including Long Beach and Orange County) had increased by 10 percent in 1990, an additional 50,000 jobs would have been created in the region by 2003.

…

“Workers cause traffic jams just by driving to work every day, but at the same time, congestion discourages job growth by raising the cost of doing business,” Hymel said. “Individuals will demand higher wages to compensate for longer commutes. Also, slow traffic harms businesses by increasing the cost of shipping goods.”

Entered on 27 January 2009 at 16:07 in the Science file | Care to make an observation? | Print Print

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