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If you are sitting there thinking: "So what", I highly recommend you educate yourself on how building roads actually affects US infrastructure. We have a CRUMB

If you are sitting there thinking: "So what", I highly recommend you educate yourself on how building roads actually affects US infrastructure. We have a CRUMBLING infrastructure in the US, and people are constantly complaining about potholes in major metropolitan areas. And the solution is build more roads? We cannot even maintain the ones we have! Recommended reading: - https://www.strongtowns.org/the-growth-ponzi-scheme https://www.strongtowns.org/the-growth-ponzi-scheme - https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2018/1/16/why-walkable-streets-are-more-economically-productive-3bzg5 https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2018/1/16/why-walkable-s...

vbezhenar 8y ago
I don't understand how is it possible that you can't maintain roads. Use car taxes to maintain roads. Increase them if necessary. Introduce paid roads where applicable. If taxes were too high, some people would prefer cheaper public transportation, so market will find a balance automatically.
- claar 8y ago
  Simple -- tax money earmarked for roads is spent elsewhere, leaving insufficient money for road maintenance.
  - vbezhenar 8y ago
    The problem is not with roads, then, but with tax distribution.
- ip26 8y ago
  Increase them if necessary. Good luck. Introduce paid roads where applicable. Oh my god do the voters scream about this. They are entitled to free roads. We struggle to maintain roads because the voting public wants $1.00 worth of services for $0.90
- mikeash 8y ago
  Increased taxes are extremely unpopular. Gas taxes, which are supposed to fund road maintenance, are almost always a fixed per-gallon amount, so they gradually erode due to inflation. They also effectively shrink due to increasing fuel efficiency. Just keeping gas taxes actually steady looks like an increase, and voting for that is a good way for politicians to lose elections.
- checker 8y ago
  A surprising amount of people (at least to me) think driving on any road and parking at the destination for free is their inherent right and such people will naturally boycott and lobby against any attempt to charge for routes or parking.
closeparen 8y ago
Counterpoint: I grew up in an area which allegedly has some of the worst roads in the country. They're fine. Sure they're not silky-smooth surfaces ready for MotoGP but contemporary mass-market vehicles have no problem traversing them. At worst you're going to feel uncomfortable for half a second. Really bad construction might slow you down 10-20 minutes. Meanwhile America's best, most expensive, most politically supported public transit systems barely work, and can be expected to fail you completely several times each month. The lived experiences don't match the theory. Roads usually work fine, and degrade gracefully when they don't. Transit is obnoxious on a good day, and when it fails it cascades catastrophically. I want to be a good urbanist, but the quality just isn't there, nor does it seem to be a budget priority (instead new money goes to fare subsidies, empty bus routes, etc).
- mundo 8y ago
  I don't know which transit system you think is our best and most expensive, but the one where I live (Portland, OR) is great. In 20 years it's failed me twice: once a bus broke down in a snowstorm, and once a train was blocked by protesters. That's it. The other ~10,000 trips were pretty uneventful. My biggest gripe is that the arrival time api is sometimes 1-2 minutes off.
  - honkycat 8y ago
    Fellow PDX resident here! Literally moved to this city due to the walkability and quality of public transit. I. LOVE. IT. HERE.
- sethherr 8y ago
  My lived experience is that public transit is great. I take BART 5 days a week and have a 15 minute late experience once every few months. This to me is something like the “I can’t live in a city because I can’t afford a 2000 square foot detached unit” issue. You just need to modify your expectations. I’m far happier and less stressed not driving every day - but yes, it’s noisy and I have to stand and sometimes something smells bad. There’s room for improvement, but that doesn’t mean public transit is unuseable.
deleted 8y ago
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vbezhenar 8y ago

I don't understand how is it possible that you can't maintain roads. Use car taxes to maintain roads. Increase them if necessary. Introduce paid roads where applicable. If taxes were too high, some people would prefer cheaper public transportation, so market will find a balance automatically.

claar 8y ago
Simple -- tax money earmarked for roads is spent elsewhere, leaving insufficient money for road maintenance.
- vbezhenar 8y ago
  The problem is not with roads, then, but with tax distribution.
ip26 8y ago
Increase them if necessary. Good luck. Introduce paid roads where applicable. Oh my god do the voters scream about this. They are entitled to free roads. We struggle to maintain roads because the voting public wants $1.00 worth of services for $0.90
mikeash 8y ago
Increased taxes are extremely unpopular. Gas taxes, which are supposed to fund road maintenance, are almost always a fixed per-gallon amount, so they gradually erode due to inflation. They also effectively shrink due to increasing fuel efficiency. Just keeping gas taxes actually steady looks like an increase, and voting for that is a good way for politicians to lose elections.
checker 8y ago
A surprising amount of people (at least to me) think driving on any road and parking at the destination for free is their inherent right and such people will naturally boycott and lobby against any attempt to charge for routes or parking.

closeparen 8y ago

Counterpoint: I grew up in an area which allegedly has some of the worst roads in the country. They're fine. Sure they're not silky-smooth surfaces ready for MotoGP but contemporary mass-market vehicles have no problem traversing them. At worst you're going to feel uncomfortable for half a second. Really bad construction might slow you down 10-20 minutes. Meanwhile America's best, most expensive, most politically supported public transit systems barely work, and can be expected to fail you completely several times each month. The lived experiences don't match the theory. Roads usually work fine, and degrade gracefully when they don't. Transit is obnoxious on a good day, and when it fails it cascades catastrophically. I want to be a good urbanist, but the quality just isn't there, nor does it seem to be a budget priority (instead new money goes to fare subsidies, empty bus routes, etc).

mundo 8y ago
I don't know which transit system you think is our best and most expensive, but the one where I live (Portland, OR) is great. In 20 years it's failed me twice: once a bus broke down in a snowstorm, and once a train was blocked by protesters. That's it. The other ~10,000 trips were pretty uneventful. My biggest gripe is that the arrival time api is sometimes 1-2 minutes off.
- honkycat 8y ago
  Fellow PDX resident here! Literally moved to this city due to the walkability and quality of public transit. I. LOVE. IT. HERE.
sethherr 8y ago
My lived experience is that public transit is great. I take BART 5 days a week and have a 15 minute late experience once every few months. This to me is something like the “I can’t live in a city because I can’t afford a 2000 square foot detached unit” issue. You just need to modify your expectations. I’m far happier and less stressed not driving every day - but yes, it’s noisy and I have to stand and sometimes something smells bad. There’s room for improvement, but that doesn’t mean public transit is unuseable.

deleted 8y ago

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