Here’s a real conundrum. Traffic jams are good for us and our fragile blue Earth.

Economists and environmentalists looking at the issue of traffic congestion in the US, Asia and Europe have realised some hard truths, starting with the unpleasant-to-swallow idea that traffic is not an environmental problem, it’s a transport problem.

That’s a good thing. The more that people get frustrated sitting in traffic, the easier it is to persuade them to switch to other modes of transport, be it trains, buses or their own bicycles.

But if too many people give up driving their cars and traffic congestion eases, the remaining drivers go faster and pollution and petrol consumption increase rapidly.

This is the issue that city officials have to grapple with as they mull the possibility of introducing congestion charges – effectively making motorists pay to use the roads.

Congestion charges do work to shift people out of their cars – up to a point. But not all drivers follow – for them, the benefits of a fast drive into town on a relatively clear road far outweigh having to fork out for the privilege of doing so.

According to a Wall Street Journal article, efforts to reduce traffic jams in Houston, Atlanta and Minnesota by installing entrance meters on freeway ramps significantly reduced peak travel times.

The Law of Unintended Consequences then took over, as it must: In Minnesota, overall traffic volume increased by 9%, after metring was introduced, and fuel burn hiked by 5.5 million gallons.

The obvious solution would be to peg congestion charges at insanely high levels so that most people leave their cars at home, or ditch them altogether. But then the motor and tyre and oil lobbies would squeal about job losses and economic contraction and so on, and start pulling on their levers of power. And so we go on.

Answers to this dilemma on a postcard, please …

PHOTO: ABC, Australia

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