Journal of Economic Literature
Book Reviews
2026-08-28
Arthur O'sullivan of Lewis and Clark College reviews “Alleviating Urban Traffic Congestion” by Richard Arnott, Tilmann Rave, Ronnie Schob,. The EconLit Abstract of the reviewed work begins “Reacts to the apparent failure of urban transport economists' advocacy of congestion pricing, and advocates that they instead redirect their attention to policy complements to congestion pricing. Takes as its starting point the existing literature in urban transport economic theory, most of which derives from the canonical, macroscopic model, as well as the voluminous policy literature advocating congestion pricing. Suggests that the community of urban transport economists has relied excessively on the canonical macroscopic model of urban traffic congestion and that a redirection of research toward more microscopic modeling will result in more useful and effective policy analysis. Looks at downtown parking policy and demonstrates the potentially very large efficiency gains that can be achieved by rationalizing it. Examines the encouragement of bicycling and to what extent it could alleviate traffic congestion. Analyzes the staggering of work hours by dominant employers, a policy that is applied extensively but has been little analyzed. Explores the concept of the multimode ticket, a policy that entails charging cars that enter the center of the city a toll equal to the transit fare. Arnott is Professor of Economics at Boston College. Rave is Researcher at the Ifo Institute for Economic Research in Munich. Schob… Index.”