alt Hacker NewsDisagree.
While what you're saying does seem like a direct solution (congestion), it is the wrong solution.
The solution to congestion is robust public transit. Full stop.
If a light rail is more comfortable and a faster experience than a car, people will use that instead. Public transit has been traditionally so atrocious, for reasoning we can attribute to many factors, that most people don't use it even if it existed.
If public transit was actually done right, people would be happy to use it. It is more energy efficient, more cost efficient, less of a mental burden, and I believe can be significantly more comfortable.
This is the fundamental issue for me. Society keeps taking these horrible shortcuts that cost all of us instead of just doing the right thing to begin with.
No matter how good public transit is, it will never fully replace the need or desire for cars. Especially now that self-driving cars are hitting the scene. There will be routes poorly served by transit, people hauling stuff that can't be easily taken on a bus or train, people who prefer privacy, stuff being transported by truck, and people who just like road trips. These people are all still imposting a cost on other drivers by driving (when there is congestion). I haven't yet heard a good reason for why that should be free, no matter how good public transit is.