Gimme more sprawl!
That might as well be what this car-loving Crosscut reader is asking for, in one of the silliest and most egocentric comments I've seen in a long time:
No, seriously! Because anyone who thinks we will cure congestion by mounting an all-out effort to encourage people to drive even more than they do today needs to go back to school and enroll in Uncommon Sense 101.
No matter how wide we make the highways and no matter how tall we build the parking garages, traffic will be just as bad as it is today, if not worse. We could choose to ignore the environmental impacts, but the economic cost would still be beyond what our common wealth can afford.
If you've seen the movie Field of Dreams, you're undoubtedly familiar with the phrase, build it and they will come.
This statement just so happens to be applicable to both highways and rapid transit (build it, and the commuters will come) but there is an important difference. Because rapid transit is so robust and efficient, it can flexibly respond to varying usage. If ridership skyrockets, the demand is easily met by lengthening the trains and increasing the frequency of service.
To put it more simply, light rail is scalable.
And it's reliable - it never gets stuck in traffic, so riders can relax knowing the amount of time it will take to reach their destination.
But highways aren't. Compare the two modes of transportation: a single light rail line can carry the equivalent capacity of a highway that's a dozen lanes across.
This isn't hard to visualize - think about how much smaller the footprint of a single occupant driver is without his or her car. The car takes up much more space.
By investing in rapid transit, we give commuters a choice and improve everyone's freedom of mobility, including those who choose to drive instead of ride. Sadly, there are still fanatics out there who can't think outside of their cul-de-sac.
Fire any public employee who says "we've got to get people out of their cars." Finish all existing roadwork, lane expansion, interchange connections, etc. Open up HOV lanes to all traffic. Licence, insurance mandate and register all adult bicyclists; no more 'sharrows'. More parking garages; valet parking should be expanded. Many more tow truck to clear the roads and bridges. Cars are king. No more light rail. BRT is OK. Any questions??Yeah, I've got a question for "animalal". Are you insane?
No, seriously! Because anyone who thinks we will cure congestion by mounting an all-out effort to encourage people to drive even more than they do today needs to go back to school and enroll in Uncommon Sense 101.
No matter how wide we make the highways and no matter how tall we build the parking garages, traffic will be just as bad as it is today, if not worse. We could choose to ignore the environmental impacts, but the economic cost would still be beyond what our common wealth can afford.
If you've seen the movie Field of Dreams, you're undoubtedly familiar with the phrase, build it and they will come.
This statement just so happens to be applicable to both highways and rapid transit (build it, and the commuters will come) but there is an important difference. Because rapid transit is so robust and efficient, it can flexibly respond to varying usage. If ridership skyrockets, the demand is easily met by lengthening the trains and increasing the frequency of service.
To put it more simply, light rail is scalable.
And it's reliable - it never gets stuck in traffic, so riders can relax knowing the amount of time it will take to reach their destination.
But highways aren't. Compare the two modes of transportation: a single light rail line can carry the equivalent capacity of a highway that's a dozen lanes across.
This isn't hard to visualize - think about how much smaller the footprint of a single occupant driver is without his or her car. The car takes up much more space.
By investing in rapid transit, we give commuters a choice and improve everyone's freedom of mobility, including those who choose to drive instead of ride. Sadly, there are still fanatics out there who can't think outside of their cul-de-sac.
# Posted by Jonathan : 5:12 PM
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