Most Americans Don’t Believe Planners
22nd June 2022
The Antiplanner jerks back the curtain.
A recent survey found that 93 percent of planning students oppose highway expansion because they believe that it won’t relieve congestion due to induced demand. However, the survey found, only 24 percent of the general public agrees. Similarly, 83 percent of planning students believe the government should try to reduce the amount of driving Americans do, but only 31 percent of the general public agrees.
It never occurs to planners that results like these might indicate that they are wrong. After all, they are the experts and the general public is not, so the public should let them do what they want.
…
Most infuriating is the whole induced-demand argument, which (according to Governing magazine) has planners actively wondering why they can’t sell this idea to the public. The answer, of course, is that it is stupid. Economically it is stupid because there is no conceivable product that will generate more demand simply by making more of it: building a road in a desert will not induce more driving. Politically it is stupid because it argues that more roads generate more economic activity, and most urban politicians say they want more economic activity in their cities.