American Dream

Congestion leads people to move to urban fringes, which some people call sprawl. Urban-growth boundaries attempt to stop this, but they impose huge costs in the form of higher land prices and congestion. This technical paper by researchers at the State University of New York at Buffalo finds that toll roads that use congestion pricing will more effectively reduce sprawl by providing people with congestion-free travel options. The paper says that "a Portland-style urban boundary . . . entails a deadweight loss almost 70 times the efficiency gains from tolls."

Toll roads yes, urban-growth boundaries no!