The reason: There’s always something interesting to keep you distracted as you put one foot in front of the other. Maybe it’s the ducklings, or families fishing, or rollerbladers, or sunbathers, or dog walkers … you’ll never know what you’ll see on a given day. Even the environs are pleasantly varied: You can run lakeside, then among the trees, and then along the athletic fields. It’s all good.
This article appears in Sep 27 – Oct 3, 2006.
http://www.stopthetrain.com/
First off, lets take a look at the source of your figures, the libertarian Reason Foundation.
This right wing think tank is backed by companies such as the American Petroleum Institute, Chevron Corporation, DaimlerChrysler Corp., Ford, GM, ExxonMobil, Shell Oil, and other various oil and automotive companies.
It comes as no surpise that a think tank backed by car and oil companies published a study showing that we need more road construction. Shame on your editors for not pointing this out to your readers.
You cannot solve congestion problems by simply adding more roads. Anyone who has spent any time in Los Angeles can tell you that.
When did rehashing a report from the area’s biggest transit critics become reporting? I’ve taken Dr. Hartgen’s urban transportation problems class at UNCC, and I wasn’t convinced then the man should be allowed to hold a job, and I’m even more so now.
23 lanes in Atlanta huh….way out in Cobb County. Doesn’t something seem wrong about that? And we want to emulate that why?
Instead of rehashing your anti-transit proganda, why not cover a story that received little attention, The Garden State parkway. This sprawl generator has more than doubled in cost in just a couple of months to over $1B dollars, and construction is still years off. The first leg will cost more per mile than light rail…..some on….THIS IS WHERE THE WASTE IS….over $1B dollars to make it easier for people to live in sprawl.
Tara might not have the answer, but at least she sees the problem… Or at least part of it. No, you don’t just add more roads to control the congestion, but neither do you widen the roads that are wide enough and build trains that won’t be used.
Michael doesn’t like the figures because he doesn’t like the politics of the organization he refers to. That doesn’t make them correct OR incorrect however, and typically of his political position, he offers nothing to counter it nor any solutions to the problem. He just tosses innuendo and smear. Next time, offer facts or ideas and your opinion might carry some weight.
The fact is that we do have a problem here, it is growing, and it will continue to grow. Do we need to add roads? Sure! But we also need to start to foster an environment that supports more small business where many don’t have to travel as far, create incentives for companies to allow employees to work from home where possible, and control the growth. I put on less than 6000 miles per year on average and I work full time and more. I just do it smarter.
The idea of curbing growth is heresy to Char/Meck officials who always think growth is good. It isn’t. Many people currently live here because of what Charlotte was, not what it could be if we only added a few hundred thousand more. Growth means an increase in crime, poverty, taxes, AND congestion. Where’s the upside here? Mayor Pat and his city cohorts cannot manage the city they have. But if growth is what is in our future, adding useless rail just because we can get part of it from Fed tax money, won’t solve a thing.
We need city officials that can come up with new ideas and people like Mike and Chris above to do more than pump their political agenda. Congestion and what to do about it isn’t a liberal or conservative issue. It just needs to be dealt with.