Understanding Accessibility and Road Capacity Changes: A Response in Support of Metz

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Notes

1. The fact that the use of roads is essentially free is one of the key reasons that these behavioural effects occur.

2. In more sophisticated models part of this accessibility change is the change in the labour market that a firm can access, leading to increased productivity and thus higher land values.

3. Without making any judgements on the desirability of sprawl development, it is generally recognized that there are environmental costs associated with it.

4. One could argue that consumers use the roads. However, the effects of, for example, an increased supply of housing will tend to extend well beyond the immediate vicinity of the transport capacity increase.

5. An area not addressed here is the various constraints on land utilization introduced by planning and zoning regulations, many of which have adverse consequences on transport.

6. Increasing income levels may also mean that prices for road use would need to continually increase to maintain any reductions in travel time, with potential political consequences.