RE: "Do the authors and city envision that there will be less traffic because of fewer cars?"
Likely yes. Transportation central planners believe in the idea of "induced demand." That is - the larger the road, the more likely motorists are to use it. "Road diets" as the projects which reduce road capacity, usually via the removal of traffic lanes, in their ideology is supposed to do the opposite.
RE: "Do the authors and city envision that there will be less traffic because of fewer cars?"
Likely yes. Transportation central planners believe in the idea of "induced demand." That is - the larger the road, the more likely motorists are to use it. "Road diets" as the projects which reduce road capacity, usually via the removal of traffic lanes, in their ideology is supposed to do the opposite.
https://ti.org/antiplanner/?p=16927