Commuting

When people decide to move to a certain neighborhood, they generally consider the distance between their home and their job. Cities have to make it possible for residents to travel to and from their places of employment either by building roads or expanding public transportation. Examine the charts below to discover how urban growth has affected traffic in Phoenix.

commuting.jpg

Source: United States Environmental Protection Agency
http://www.epa.gov/urban/phx/indicators.htm

Metropolitan Phoenix Employment is Highly Concentrated

DowntownPhoenixEmploymentisHighlyConcentrated.jpg

Source: Morrison Institute for Public Policy. “Hits and Misses: Fast Growth in Metropolitan Phoenix. September 2000.
http://www.asu.edu/copp/morrison/

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Questions:

1. Examine the chart and the map. Find an explanation for why traffic has increased in the Phoenix metropolitan region since the 1980s.

2. What should Phoenix do about the problem?