IN 1968, Garrett Hardin coined the term "tragedy of the commons." When a scarce resource is accessible to everyone and shared without limit, there is a natural tendency to use it to the point of overexploitation and depletion, and in the end, everyone loses. Individuals may gain by using the resource, but everyone collectively loses as more and more people consume the limited resource. This situation is evident today for many of the resources that we depend on for our existence: clean air, ocean fisheries, forests, etc. In the absence of institutions and rules that achieve judicious management of the resource, the community faces diminishing benefits until the resource is exhausted.
In our cities, a precious resource is our road network, which is increasingly being congested by more and more private motor vehicles without limit. We already know that our road network cannot be continuously widened and lengthened to accommodate more vehicles. The cost of acquiring additional right-of-way to add yet another lane is already prohibitive in most cities — even self-defeating if it means eliminating sidewalks which are used by all of us. Moreover, we already know that simply adding a lane provides only temporary relief. Any reduction in congestion attracts additional car use and, soon after, the same road is just as congested as before.
Continue reading with one of these options:
Ad-free access
P 80 per month
(billed annually at P 960)
- Unlimited ad-free access to website articles
- Limited offer: Subscribe today and get digital edition access for free (accessible with up to 3 devices)