There is no better place to study traffic congestion than Southern California. In our famously gridlocked region, traffic directly ties to development patterns and growth. The ITS traffic congestion research program, a joint effort with the UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies, examines the connections between traffic and urban development, economic activity, and transportation planning. We pay particular attention to public finance tools — including the controversial tool of congestion pricing — as a way to inform policymakers in the quest to “solve” gridlock.
LEAD SCHOLAR
Michael Manville
Associate Professor of Urban Planning
Spotlight
Is there a fair way to do congestion pricing?
Charging people to use busy roads raises questions about fairness, especially for low-income drivers.
Spreading the Gospel of Induced Demand
MURP student learns why it’s imperative that we teach and understand the concept of induced demand.
Roads, Prices and Shortages: A Gasoline Parable
This essay by Michael Manville makes the case that when goods are underpriced, shortages result, and congestion is essentially a shortage of road space.
In the News
ITS Publications
Journal Articles
Is Traffic Congestion Overrated? Examining the Highly Variable Effects of Congestion on Travel and Accessibility
Andrew Mondschein, Brian D. Taylor
Journal of Transport Geography, 2017
Does traffic congestion influence the location of new business establishments?An analysis of the San Francisco Bay Area
Taner Osman, Trevor Thomas, Andrew Mondschein, Brian D Taylor
Urban Studies, 2018
Faculty Projects
Student Projects
Client: Coco Delivery
Client: Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT)
Client: New York City Department of Transportation
Scholars
Study transportation at the #1 public university
Transportation-related degrees at UCLA