this post was submitted on 01 Sep 2023
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The traffic argument is so infuriating. When will American journalism, and Americans at large, realize the very simple truth: no large city in the US will ever exist without traffic, without a fundamental shift from our car-centric culture and development to transit-oriented?
It is not possible to explain the horribleness that is Austin road planning and the complete and utter lack of available transit. Exhibit 1 https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2020/2/27/a-75-billion-boondoggle-advances-in-austin
Just consider what it must mean for an average Californian to say traffic is bad. These aren't people coming from rural Montana complaining about city traffic.
Even that headline image is Jesus Christ. Temporally closed ramp onto a packed full outer road from a freeway that's sitting squarely in the E rating. (Can't move without major effort)
I feel like for $7.5 billion they could build a city wide monorail system with tons of stops. Charge a few bucks a ride and it pays for itself. Or make it totally free and see what happens when your city suddenly has total freedom of movement. Bet it would have huge economic benefits for everyone. (So of course it'll never happen.)
I'm not sure. Public transportation infrastructure is insanely expensive. Where I live (France), there was a project to add a new subway line. A single one. Estimated cost was more than 2 G€. And that's before taking into the numerous issues of another subway line modernization program...
People forget that transportation has an amplification affect across your entire economy. It takes all of the friction caused by traffic and removes a percentage of that. Helping not any one individual but everyone. It's understandable that it's harder to wrap our heads around something that isn't directly profitable when we're raised that way... but all the evidence and research is clear. Public Infastructure not only is the right way to help people, but is the best long term economic solution to transportation.
Further, who do you think pays for roads? Or their repair? Road infastructure is heavily subsidized and far more expensive than any public transportation project. The big difference? You won't hear politicians making a stink about it
I don't disagree with you on the principle. But at this price tag (a significant part of the budget of a major Metropolitan area), you don't only need to know it's good : you need to know by how much it is better ; when the payoff is going to begin ;and how to you make sure you don't create issues which will persist for up to a century. Granted, large road projects aren't cheap either.
It also tie a significant amount of money each year to pay for continuous operation of these transportation, and for the moment, there is a significant number of transportation jobs which can't be filled. Roads are costly too, but can withstand these employment issue... for a time.
US cities probably should invest much more in this area, but there are limits to the ability of these project to solve transportation issues.
Does that 'G' mean billion?
Gillion. €2 Gillion.
Yep, Giga-Euro.
The issue with Austin is most of the traffic isn't Austin residents. A shitty Austin house will cost $300,000 more than the exact same house 30 miles away.
Austin is quickly becoming one of the most expensive cities in the county. Which, by the way, is another reason it's being abandoned. Companies came here on the promise of cheap housing, and house prices in the area tripled in 5 years
So it's super expensive, hot, has shitty traffic, and it's a liberal island trapped in a state run by land developers and fascists.
I was hoping to flip Texas blue in 2028 or 32 but I guess not. It's extra frustrating because you know all this insane shit they pull is specifically designed to discourage liberals from moving in.
Monorail! It put Brockway, Ogdenville and North Haverbrook on the map!
This NEVER happens. It is always subsidized and traffic is still a mess.
When you are at the point where you are building roads from hell like that maybe it is time to start looking at alternatives. It smells like a sunk cost fallacy in the works.
I see the article addresses something I saw firsthand. I remember they expanded rt 3 (a popular route to access rt 95/128 into Boston) because it was getting jammed during commutes. I said to myself "That will be jammed again in a few years". Sure enough, everyone moved to places fed by it and started switching to it and it was jammed up again.
People moved there because anything inside 128 costs a million dollars. I have friends with pretty good jobs who can't hope to afford to live closer to Boston. MA has their "MBTA Communities" upzoning push but it doesn't go far enough, IMO. We need to eliminate single family zoning entirely.
City Beautiful also has a good video on the shitshow that is I-35. TX DOT must have a little shrine to Robert Moses in their lobby.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcUx5r_ksk8
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