The ‘time is money’ mantra is a terrible starting point for planning and designing infrastructure

It’s a serious mistake to overplay the economic claims.

[Photos: Denys Nevozhai/Unsplash; Maxim Berg/Unsplash]

Productivity, and alleged lost productivity, has driven most of the conversation around traffic congestion and sprawl in the United States. While “time is money” is true in some contexts, it’s a terrible starting point for planning transportation systems.

Traffic congestion is a pervasive issue, whether it’s the destination (a downtown, a stadium, a new development) or the streets connecting to the destinations. In economic terms, congestion occurs when demand exceeds supply: not enough lanes for everyone trying to get somewhere at once. Your time is valuable and there are sometimes real consequences you experience when roads........

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