Effect of street network design on traffic congestion and traffic safety

We examine the effects of street network design on congestion levels and crash rates in neighborhoods across Utah's Wasatch Front. We employ propensity score matching to select pairwise neighborhood samples that have other similar characteristics but differ greatly in street network design. Our results show that denser and more connected neighborhoods have significantly lower congestion levels, but they do not have measurably lower (or higher) crash rates, presumably due to the prevalence of four-way intersections. This study can help guide datadriven decision making on street network design standards for many of the growing urban areas across the country and globe.