When Traffic Congestion Is Both a Great Thing and a Terrible Thing

Daily commuters think of traffic congestion as unequivocally awful, but the people who run brick-and-mortar businesses tend to be torn. On one hand, they too hate when bad traffic prevents workers and customers from coming and going as quickly as they please. On the other, business owners recognize that heavy traffic indicates an active spot and encourages vital interactions — in short, that it's a sign of success.

Transport researcher Matthias Sweet of McMaster University has attempted to measure both the good and the bad of metro area traffic. In the Journal of Transport Geography, Sweet reports that businesses may be more likely to leave urban areas with lots of regional congestion but prefer to stay in cities with lots of local congestion. The yin and the yang of traffic continues.