The phrase,'Unsound Transit', was coined by the Wall Street Journal to describe Seattle where,"Light Rail Madness eats billions that could otherwise be devoted to truly efficient transportation technologies." The Puget Sound's traffic congestion is a growing cancer on the region's prosperity. This website, captures news and expert opinion about ways to address the crisis. This is not a blog, but a knowledge base, which collects the best articles and presents them in a searchable format. My goal is to arm residents with knowledge so they can champion fact-based, rather than emotional, solutions.

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Monday, September 4, 2006

$533 billion needed for 104,000 new lane miles over next 25 yrs

Posted by Chuck Bennett on September 4, 2006 3:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) |These guys ever hear of mass transit?

The Reason Foundation, a libertarian think tank, released a report last Friday calling for the construction of a new 104,000 miles of new lines at a cost of $533 billion over the next 25 years.

“The good news is that this investment would save drivers a stunning 7.7 billion hours annually. And our current traffic - and the looming congestion - can be reduced with just a fraction of the money we are already committing to transportation projects.”

Nationwide it predicted traffic delays will grow 65% and congested roads will jump 50% over the next quarter-century. And luckily, by 2030, New York won’t even be in the top ten worst for traffic. New York will be 13.

For the New York City - Newark region it called for the creation of 2,400 new lane-miles by 2030 for about $38.5 billion.

“This investment would save an estimated 1,248 million hours per year that are now lost sitting in the traffic,” the report says.

The American Public Transportation Association called the report “short-sighted” for ignored commuter rails, subways and buses.

What about dense development to avoid sprawl in the first place? And how will the libertarians feel about all the eminent domain likely to arise from constructing all those new roads?


Worst Traffic in 2030
1. Los Angeles-Long Beach
2. Chicago
3. Washington
4. San Francisco-Oakland
5. Atlanta
6. Miami
7. Denver-Aurora
8. Seattle-Tacoma, WA
9. Las Vegas
10. Minneapolis-St. Paul
11. Baltimore
12. Portland
13. New York-Newark
14. Sacramento
15. Dallas-Fort Worth
16. San Diego
17. San Jose
18. Phoenix-Mesa
19. Riverside-San Bernardino
20. Charlotte
Source: Reason Foundation

at 9/04/2006 01:48:00 PM
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