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Roads are bad for more reasons than maintenance though. People don't like to live near them. They are an UNPLEASANT part of the journey, not a destination. That
by honkycat 8y ago
Roads are bad for more reasons than maintenance though. People don't like to live near them. They are an UNPLEASANT part of the journey, not a destination. That means whoever gets stuck with the road going through their community sees their local businesses suffer and their housing prices drop.
Saying "We need roads because public transit does not work" is just false. There are MANY examples of cities where they all get around just fine without having to slather down some more pavement. I was very impressed by the Park and Ride system in Strasbourg, France and Amsterdam, Netherlands. Or hey, my current home Portland, Oregon! Or my previous home Chicago, Illinois also has excellent public transit! ( Though Chicago has been going through a rough patch lately due to bad zoning laws around the Blue Line EL stops )
- closeparen 8y agoThe design and operation of a transit system is a huge and complicated topic. It doesn't work out well just because you want it to. I agree that Europe tends to do it successfully; we should be figuring out why, and how to emulate it, because so far our own attempts tend to be mediocre. When I lived in Chicago it took 60-70 minutes to get to the Loop by bus and Red Line, or 15-20 by car. I don't claim this is an inherent feature of transit. I claim that the way we do transit systematically underperforms the way we do roads, and so all else being equal, roads are going to deliver a better UX. We should be fixing that. Unfortunately, politicians who preside over transit meltdowns (i.e. Cuomo) keep getting reelected.