How Does Transportation Create Stress and Tension?
Transportation-related stress-tension generated by declining transit service, increased traffic noise, highway traffic congestion, transit overcrowding, and increased travel time-may contribute to the “psychic overload” suggested by Milgram (1970). Subjects exposed to transportation-related stress appear in at least one study (Korte and Grant, 1980) to adopt social behavior that is either undesirable (e.g. lack of helpfulness) or inappropriate (e.g. aggression); such behavior may indicate a reduced awareness of peripheral environmental stimuli and a heightened sensitivity to traffic-related frustration (cited in Yago, 1983). Moreover, increased travel time, overcrowding, and exposure to traffic noise are believed to affect stress-related physical disorders (Lundberg, 1976; cited in Yago, 1983).
