Single correct option
The passage below is followed by four summaries. Choose the option that best captures its essence.
Urban planners have long debated whether building more roads actually relieves traffic congestion. A robust empirical pattern known as "induced demand" suggests the opposite is often true: when a city widens a highway, the added capacity initially eases congestion, but lower travel times attract more drivers, new commuters, shifted trip times, relocated households, until congestion returns to roughly its earlier level, sometimes within just a few years. This does not mean road expansion is always pointless, but it does mean that congestion relief alone is a poor justification for it, since the very relief the expansion promises tends to be self-eliminating.
Urban planners have long debated whether building more roads actually relieves traffic congestion. A robust empirical pattern known as "induced demand" suggests the opposite is often true: when a city widens a highway, the added capacity initially eases congestion, but lower travel times attract more drivers, new commuters, shifted trip times, relocated households, until congestion returns to roughly its earlier level, sometimes within just a few years. This does not mean road expansion is always pointless, but it does mean that congestion relief alone is a poor justification for it, since the very relief the expansion promises tends to be self-eliminating.
- A. Building more roads has been proven to permanently eliminate traffic congestion within a city
- B. Induced demand shows that added road capacity often draws in enough new traffic that congestion returns, undermining congestion relief as a justification for road expansion
- C. Urban planners agree unanimously that no new roads should ever be built in cities
- D. Traffic congestion is caused entirely by poor public transportation systems
Show answer and solution
Answer: (B) Induced demand shows that added road capacity often draws in enough new traffic that congestion returns, undermining congestion relief as a justification for road expansion
The passage's key claim is the induced-demand pattern: added capacity temporarily eases congestion but new demand fills the gap until congestion returns, making congestion relief a weak justification for road expansion. Option B captures this precisely, including the passage's careful hedge that expansion isn't "always pointless." A contradicts the passage; C and D overstate or introduce unsupported claims.
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