Friday, July 02, 2004
Hallucinating for Higher Taxes
AP Poll on Transportation
AP poll released today. Basic conclusion is that people will pay more taxes to reduce congestion. The distressing point, however, is that more people would like the higher taxes to go to transit, which of course would not reduce traffic congestion. In this regard, the transit-media complex has been successful --- convincing people that transit is the answer, despite the fact that no MPO or transit agency has ever produced a plan that would materially reduce congestion. There's a good reason for it. It's impossible. No urban area in the Western World has a transit system that does more than get people around the core and take them to the core. Everywhere else, cars are needed. And everywhere else is where most people live and where most jobs are.
See The Illusion of Transit Choice
AP poll released today. Basic conclusion is that people will pay more taxes to reduce congestion. The distressing point, however, is that more people would like the higher taxes to go to transit, which of course would not reduce traffic congestion. In this regard, the transit-media complex has been successful --- convincing people that transit is the answer, despite the fact that no MPO or transit agency has ever produced a plan that would materially reduce congestion. There's a good reason for it. It's impossible. No urban area in the Western World has a transit system that does more than get people around the core and take them to the core. Everywhere else, cars are needed. And everywhere else is where most people live and where most jobs are.
See The Illusion of Transit Choice
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