Saturday, April 01, 2006
The Induced-Driving Myth
Do new highways merely "induce" more driving? Or is that just an excuse for not building any and letting cities become even more congested?
Robert Cervero is a planning professor at the University of California (Berkeley) who supports New Urbanism and transit-oriented developments. But he is also an honest researcher. So when he looked at the idea of induced travel, he concluded that previous studies "suffered from methodological problems that distorted their findings," such as by confusing cause and effect.
Cervero's own research shows that "for every 100 percent increase in capacity," new development leads to about a 40-percent increase in traffic. This is "substantially less than reported by past induced-demand studies" and shows that new construction can lead to a reduction in congestion.
"Fighting highway projects, regardless what benefit-cost numbers say, is misguided," concludes Cervero. "The problems
people associate with roads—e.g., congestion and air pollution—are not the fault of road investments per se. These problems stem from the use and mispricing of roads, new and old alike."
Part of the problem is that highway construction today is so delayed by planning studies and processes that, by the time any road gets built, the demand for that road has already exceeded its capacity. For example, Minnesota did a study of highway 10, a four-lane road north of Minneapolis, and found that by the time it could build two new lanes, traffic will have grown by more than 50 percent. Thus, the road at completion would be more congested than it is today -- not because of induced demand but simply because of the normal growth in traffic. This does not mean we should not build roads, only that we should speed up the process.
Robert Cervero is a planning professor at the University of California (Berkeley) who supports New Urbanism and transit-oriented developments. But he is also an honest researcher. So when he looked at the idea of induced travel, he concluded that previous studies "suffered from methodological problems that distorted their findings," such as by confusing cause and effect.
Cervero's own research shows that "for every 100 percent increase in capacity," new development leads to about a 40-percent increase in traffic. This is "substantially less than reported by past induced-demand studies" and shows that new construction can lead to a reduction in congestion.
"Fighting highway projects, regardless what benefit-cost numbers say, is misguided," concludes Cervero. "The problems
people associate with roads—e.g., congestion and air pollution—are not the fault of road investments per se. These problems stem from the use and mispricing of roads, new and old alike."
Part of the problem is that highway construction today is so delayed by planning studies and processes that, by the time any road gets built, the demand for that road has already exceeded its capacity. For example, Minnesota did a study of highway 10, a four-lane road north of Minneapolis, and found that by the time it could build two new lanes, traffic will have grown by more than 50 percent. Thus, the road at completion would be more congested than it is today -- not because of induced demand but simply because of the normal growth in traffic. This does not mean we should not build roads, only that we should speed up the process.
Black Bears - in Maryland
I suppose it's reasonable to assume that the black bears of Maryland don't surf the Web and visit the Maryland Sierra Club's Web site what with all that carrying-on about "sprawl" and the like.
But the black bears might just enjoy the Web edition of the Baltimore Sun (source of the above image) if they did surf the Web, and, in particular, most of this article by Candus Thomson, Sun reporter.
If the black bears are doing so well, then this question follows - is there really a "sprawl" problem in Maryland?
But the black bears might just enjoy the Web edition of the Baltimore Sun (source of the above image) if they did surf the Web, and, in particular, most of this article by Candus Thomson, Sun reporter.
If the black bears are doing so well, then this question follows - is there really a "sprawl" problem in Maryland?
Va.: Extending the Washington Metrorail system to Dulles Airport and beyond
Plenty of news this past week about the proposed extension of the Washington, D.C. regional heavy rail (subway) transit system from West Falls Church in Fairfax County to Washington Dulles Airport in Loudoun County; and beyond to the interchange of the Dulles Greenway and Va. 772.
What's clear to me is that the strategy of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) is to have motorists using the Dulles Toll Road (Va. 267) fund a large (and apparently increasing) share of the cost of building the line.
Here's some of the press about this project of late:
TOLLROADSnews: Washington Airports Authority takeover of Dulles TR agreed by Gov VA
TOLLROADSnews: Opposition to transfer of Dulles TR to airport authority
D.C. Examiner: [Opinion] Rail project built on deception
Washington Post: Dulles Rail Project Faces Cuts as Costs Swell
Washington Post: Toll Road To Fund Rail Line To Dulles
Washington Post: Dulles Toll Road Changes Hands
Washington Post: Va. Speaker to Attempt To Void Toll Road Deal
Washington Post: Going Over, Under and Around and Around on the Dulles Metro Expansion
Officials Fret Over Dulles Rail Plan
Remake of Tysons Hinges on Project Being 'Done Right'
What's clear to me is that the strategy of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) is to have motorists using the Dulles Toll Road (Va. 267) fund a large (and apparently increasing) share of the cost of building the line.
Here's some of the press about this project of late:
TOLLROADSnews: Washington Airports Authority takeover of Dulles TR agreed by Gov VA
TOLLROADSnews: Opposition to transfer of Dulles TR to airport authority
D.C. Examiner: [Opinion] Rail project built on deception
Washington Post: Dulles Rail Project Faces Cuts as Costs Swell
Washington Post: Toll Road To Fund Rail Line To Dulles
Washington Post: Dulles Toll Road Changes Hands
Washington Post: Va. Speaker to Attempt To Void Toll Road Deal
Washington Post: Going Over, Under and Around and Around on the Dulles Metro Expansion
Officials Fret Over Dulles Rail Plan
Remake of Tysons Hinges on Project Being 'Done Right'
Friday, March 31, 2006
Free Market Economy, Alive and Well
Free-market economics, a legacy of the classical school, is thought of as an old conservative doctrine, but Mr. Thomas Sowell explains that it was one of the most revolutionary concepts to emerge in the history of ideas. "The thinking of the classical economist was not only a radical break from landmark intellectual figures like Plato and Machiavelli but also from mainstream thinking to this day. The notion of a self-equilibrating system--the market economy--meant a reduced role for intellectuals and politicians. And even today many still haven't accepted that their wisdom might be superfluous."
Mayor Tries to Build Empire
In contrast to the New London case, there isn't even an arguably sensible public justification for condemning Deepdale Golf Course. Indeed, the mayor's stated plan is exactly what the Supreme Court in Kelo said would go over the line: using the public power of eminent domain merely to bestow private benefits, and taking one person's property just to give it to someone else. That's not just unwise and unconstitutional--it's just plain wrong.
TOLLROADSnews: Congestion on MD I-270 kills sex - toll lane upgrade urgent
2006.03.30
Congestion on MD I-270 kills sex - toll lane upgrade urgent
Here's a hot one to lead off a congestion story - a guy with the net name Buggs in Frederick MD on an escort chat site looking to buy "pampering" and a "kinky time" from a lady. He's prepared to travel but he won't go south down I-270 to Montgomery County, Washington DC and northern Virginia because of the traffic congestion. Buggs is willing however to go way east to Columbia or over the mountains west to Hagerstown on I-70.
"Just not down 270. Not going to happen," Buggs insists.
No wonder.
20k versus 8k veh/day/lane
I-270 is the prime highway disgrace of the Washington-Baltimore metro area, at least in its far northern section. 2x2 lanes it carries 80k veh/day. That's 20k veh/day/lane which is Los Angeles freeway style loading. So of course it gets LA style congestion.
Frederick has doubled in population in the past 25 years but this main highway linking it with the Washington DC metro area has stayed the same in its northern 14 miles (22km) Clarksburg to Frederick. South of Clarksburg I-270 was widened to 2x3 lanes maybe 5 years ago, and in the 1990s the southern segment was rebuilt from 2x3 lanes to 2x4 lanes with 2x2 collector-distributor lanes as well from Gaithersburg to Rockville.
East-west I-70 most of its length east to Baltimore is 2x3 lanes and outside Frederick carries about 50k veh/day or 8k veh/day/lane.
Buggs quite sensibly chooses to travel to a lady on an 8k veh/day/lane highway but he won't do a 20k veh/day/lane road.
(This 20k veh/day/lane congestion in MD raises the question - Is there still sex in LA?)
I cannot add much to this story, except to verify that Maryland's I-270 is often horribly congested - even at off-peak times. The "north" section, between Md. 121 (Clarksburg) and Md. 85 (Buckeystown Pike) is he same four lanes that it was when the freeway was opened to traffic - in 1956.
[Click above for more]
Congestion on MD I-270 kills sex - toll lane upgrade urgent
Here's a hot one to lead off a congestion story - a guy with the net name Buggs in Frederick MD on an escort chat site looking to buy "pampering" and a "kinky time" from a lady. He's prepared to travel but he won't go south down I-270 to Montgomery County, Washington DC and northern Virginia because of the traffic congestion. Buggs is willing however to go way east to Columbia or over the mountains west to Hagerstown on I-70.
"Just not down 270. Not going to happen," Buggs insists.
No wonder.
20k versus 8k veh/day/lane
I-270 is the prime highway disgrace of the Washington-Baltimore metro area, at least in its far northern section. 2x2 lanes it carries 80k veh/day. That's 20k veh/day/lane which is Los Angeles freeway style loading. So of course it gets LA style congestion.
Frederick has doubled in population in the past 25 years but this main highway linking it with the Washington DC metro area has stayed the same in its northern 14 miles (22km) Clarksburg to Frederick. South of Clarksburg I-270 was widened to 2x3 lanes maybe 5 years ago, and in the 1990s the southern segment was rebuilt from 2x3 lanes to 2x4 lanes with 2x2 collector-distributor lanes as well from Gaithersburg to Rockville.
East-west I-70 most of its length east to Baltimore is 2x3 lanes and outside Frederick carries about 50k veh/day or 8k veh/day/lane.
Buggs quite sensibly chooses to travel to a lady on an 8k veh/day/lane highway but he won't do a 20k veh/day/lane road.
(This 20k veh/day/lane congestion in MD raises the question - Is there still sex in LA?)
I cannot add much to this story, except to verify that Maryland's I-270 is often horribly congested - even at off-peak times. The "north" section, between Md. 121 (Clarksburg) and Md. 85 (Buckeystown Pike) is he same four lanes that it was when the freeway was opened to traffic - in 1956.
[Click above for more]
It's Porkball for Yankees and the Bronx
[This article is in the TimesSelect (pay) area of the NYT Web site.]
Metro Matters
It's Porkball for Yankees and the Bronx
By JOYCE PURNICK
Published: March 30, 2006
WELL into a City Council hearing this week on the proposal for a new Yankee Stadium, one of the lawmakers recalled why he and his colleagues were there in the first place. "The name of this here issue is not black, not white, it's green," said the councilman, Thomas White Jr. of Queens.
At least someone in that Council chamber got it right. For most of the afternoon on Tuesday, the long, emotional hearing resembled more of an encounter group than a legislative session.
It got so heated that it was often hard to figure out exactly what Council critics of the team's plan really wanted, so avidly did they take advantage of the setting to rail at the Yankees.
"You're smiling as if you hit a home run, but from where I sit, it is a foul ball," Councilwoman Helen Diane Foster of the Bronx told Reggie Jackson, a special Yankees adviser who testified in support of the team's plan for a new $800 million stadium.
Councilman Charles Barron of Brooklyn, the former Black Panther, dropped in long enough to deliver one of his familiar diatribes. "This is not about baseball, this is about trust," Mr. Barron said, asking the team president, Randy Levine, how many "people of color" held decision-making jobs with the Yankees but cutting him off before he could fully answer.
No, I do not like the N.Y. Yankees. Not at all. Not the Bronx stadium where they play, nor the hordes of Yankee fans that come to Baltimore to view the Bombers in road greys. And especially not the owner, George Steinbrenner.
But more to the point, it's a sad commentary that there is even serious discussion of N.Y. taxpayers giving Mr. Steinbrenner even part of a new ballpark for his Yankees to play in. Apparently taxpayers will pick up about 20% of the cost, with the Yankees paying the rest. A better deal for taxpayers than many other new stadium projects in the United States, but still not right.
This is a franchise that is often referred to as the "richest in sports," and the team ought to be able to build itself a new venue without leaning on anyone else. And the excuse of Everyone Else Does It is, as far as I am concerned, without merit.
New Yankee Stadium
Metro Matters
It's Porkball for Yankees and the Bronx
By JOYCE PURNICK
Published: March 30, 2006
WELL into a City Council hearing this week on the proposal for a new Yankee Stadium, one of the lawmakers recalled why he and his colleagues were there in the first place. "The name of this here issue is not black, not white, it's green," said the councilman, Thomas White Jr. of Queens.
At least someone in that Council chamber got it right. For most of the afternoon on Tuesday, the long, emotional hearing resembled more of an encounter group than a legislative session.
It got so heated that it was often hard to figure out exactly what Council critics of the team's plan really wanted, so avidly did they take advantage of the setting to rail at the Yankees.
"You're smiling as if you hit a home run, but from where I sit, it is a foul ball," Councilwoman Helen Diane Foster of the Bronx told Reggie Jackson, a special Yankees adviser who testified in support of the team's plan for a new $800 million stadium.
Councilman Charles Barron of Brooklyn, the former Black Panther, dropped in long enough to deliver one of his familiar diatribes. "This is not about baseball, this is about trust," Mr. Barron said, asking the team president, Randy Levine, how many "people of color" held decision-making jobs with the Yankees but cutting him off before he could fully answer.
No, I do not like the N.Y. Yankees. Not at all. Not the Bronx stadium where they play, nor the hordes of Yankee fans that come to Baltimore to view the Bombers in road greys. And especially not the owner, George Steinbrenner.
But more to the point, it's a sad commentary that there is even serious discussion of N.Y. taxpayers giving Mr. Steinbrenner even part of a new ballpark for his Yankees to play in. Apparently taxpayers will pick up about 20% of the cost, with the Yankees paying the rest. A better deal for taxpayers than many other new stadium projects in the United States, but still not right.
This is a franchise that is often referred to as the "richest in sports," and the team ought to be able to build itself a new venue without leaning on anyone else. And the excuse of Everyone Else Does It is, as far as I am concerned, without merit.
New Yankee Stadium
Va.: METROWEST PROJECT - Changes Set to Start in Spring '07
METROWEST PROJECT
Changes Set to Start in Spring '07
By Lisa Rein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, March 29, 2006; Page B05
It will be at least eight years before the massive MetroWest project at the Vienna Metro station is fully built, officials said yesterday, but commuters and neighbors will see improvements to the station and nearby roads starting next spring.
A day after the controversial complex of 2,250 homes, shops and offices won approval from Fairfax officials, county leaders, civic activists and the developer looked forward to a smoother path to construction.
[snip]
The county Board of Supervisors approved the project 8 to 1 Monday night, calling MetroWest a bold step toward dense development near public transit that could encourage residents to walk and to ride trains instead of driving. Critics, who mobilized against the project's scale, saying it will overwhelm their neighborhoods with thousands of new cars, seemed resigned to the project's approval. But they said they would hold Pulte to its promises to coax residents from their cars.
"The citizens will need to be vigilant watchdogs," said Will Elliott, a founder of FairGrowth, which formed largely to push for fewer homes in MetroWest. "We hope all the promises in the project are kept.
This may be the largest transit-related residential densification in Fairfax County, Va. ever.
Let's just say I am skeptical of the claimed transportation benefits of this project. Yes, it's within walking distance of a Metrorail line (the Orange Line at Vienna). But consider that this is Fairfax County, and this county has had more growth in employment than any other city or county in the Washington, D.C. region. Someone living and working in Fairfax County is not, as best as I can tell, very likely to use transit for the trip to work - unless a private auto is not available.
And claiming that the developer is somehow going to change the travel habits of people living in these new homes strikes me as a stretch. The developer won't be there forever - what happens once the project is built-out?
Changes Set to Start in Spring '07
By Lisa Rein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, March 29, 2006; Page B05
It will be at least eight years before the massive MetroWest project at the Vienna Metro station is fully built, officials said yesterday, but commuters and neighbors will see improvements to the station and nearby roads starting next spring.
A day after the controversial complex of 2,250 homes, shops and offices won approval from Fairfax officials, county leaders, civic activists and the developer looked forward to a smoother path to construction.
[snip]
The county Board of Supervisors approved the project 8 to 1 Monday night, calling MetroWest a bold step toward dense development near public transit that could encourage residents to walk and to ride trains instead of driving. Critics, who mobilized against the project's scale, saying it will overwhelm their neighborhoods with thousands of new cars, seemed resigned to the project's approval. But they said they would hold Pulte to its promises to coax residents from their cars.
"The citizens will need to be vigilant watchdogs," said Will Elliott, a founder of FairGrowth, which formed largely to push for fewer homes in MetroWest. "We hope all the promises in the project are kept.
This may be the largest transit-related residential densification in Fairfax County, Va. ever.
Let's just say I am skeptical of the claimed transportation benefits of this project. Yes, it's within walking distance of a Metrorail line (the Orange Line at Vienna). But consider that this is Fairfax County, and this county has had more growth in employment than any other city or county in the Washington, D.C. region. Someone living and working in Fairfax County is not, as best as I can tell, very likely to use transit for the trip to work - unless a private auto is not available.
And claiming that the developer is somehow going to change the travel habits of people living in these new homes strikes me as a stretch. The developer won't be there forever - what happens once the project is built-out?
Md.: City plans for greener future
From the Baltimore Sun
City plans for greener future
Goal is to double tree canopy in 30 years, improving environment, property values
By Joe Palazzolo
Sun reporter
March 30, 2006
The image of the big city is typically of a hard, gray and unforgiving landscape. But that soon might change.
Concrete is out. The urban forest is in.
Baltimore parks and planning officials are to announce plans today to make Baltimore's appearance softer, greener and more pleasant by doubling the city's tree canopy - the total area covered by leaves - in the next 30 years.
More trees are almost always good, everything else being equal. BUT - at least here in Maryland (and probably elsewhere, too), keeping trees maintained in an urban environment is expensive, and it is not clear to me how Baltimore would fund thousands of new street trees in the city.
Such trees, if they are to survive and be attractive and healthy, need to be inspected, pruned, fertilized and sometimes treated for disease. All of this costs money, and Baltimore City's finances are not the best.
City plans for greener future
Goal is to double tree canopy in 30 years, improving environment, property values
By Joe Palazzolo
Sun reporter
March 30, 2006
The image of the big city is typically of a hard, gray and unforgiving landscape. But that soon might change.
Concrete is out. The urban forest is in.
Baltimore parks and planning officials are to announce plans today to make Baltimore's appearance softer, greener and more pleasant by doubling the city's tree canopy - the total area covered by leaves - in the next 30 years.
More trees are almost always good, everything else being equal. BUT - at least here in Maryland (and probably elsewhere, too), keeping trees maintained in an urban environment is expensive, and it is not clear to me how Baltimore would fund thousands of new street trees in the city.
Such trees, if they are to survive and be attractive and healthy, need to be inspected, pruned, fertilized and sometimes treated for disease. All of this costs money, and Baltimore City's finances are not the best.
Sunday, March 26, 2006
On Edge of Va. Sprawl, Labels Crumble, New Lives Thrive
On Edge of Va. Sprawl, Labels Crumble, New Lives Thrive
By Stephanie McCrummen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, March 27, 2006; A01
In one sense, it is easy to explain where Gail and Brent Heppner live. Their new house is off Exit 110 of Interstate 95, a solid 70 miles south of the District, beyond so many subdivisions and fast-food clusters, past the giant, circular sign heralding Potomac Mills mall, then farms with billboards for $9.99 truck-stop rib-eyes, and then an additional 30 minutes past gray-green blurs of second-growth pine. They live all the way down in Caroline County, recently named one of the fastest-growing counties in the country.
In another sense, though, the Heppners' place in the geography of suburbia, of exurbia, of the Washington region -- and really, of the nation -- is more difficult to pinpoint.
They and their neighbors mainly commute to jobs north but often shop in Richmond to the south. They are surrounded by rough
ruralness yet live in a relatively cutting-edge, wired new community called the Village at Ladysmith, where roads, a library and a main street are still mostly lines on paper.
Smart Growth is apparently not on the agenda for people moving from the closer-in suburbs of D.C. to places like Caroline and King George Counties, Va. See below for the map that accompanies the story from the Washington Post.
By Stephanie McCrummen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, March 27, 2006; A01
In one sense, it is easy to explain where Gail and Brent Heppner live. Their new house is off Exit 110 of Interstate 95, a solid 70 miles south of the District, beyond so many subdivisions and fast-food clusters, past the giant, circular sign heralding Potomac Mills mall, then farms with billboards for $9.99 truck-stop rib-eyes, and then an additional 30 minutes past gray-green blurs of second-growth pine. They live all the way down in Caroline County, recently named one of the fastest-growing counties in the country.
In another sense, though, the Heppners' place in the geography of suburbia, of exurbia, of the Washington region -- and really, of the nation -- is more difficult to pinpoint.
They and their neighbors mainly commute to jobs north but often shop in Richmond to the south. They are surrounded by rough
ruralness yet live in a relatively cutting-edge, wired new community called the Village at Ladysmith, where roads, a library and a main street are still mostly lines on paper.
Smart Growth is apparently not on the agenda for people moving from the closer-in suburbs of D.C. to places like Caroline and King George Counties, Va. See below for the map that accompanies the story from the Washington Post.
Calif.: Boy, 7, Meets a NIMBY World
Steve Lopez:
Points West
Boy, 7, Meets a NIMBY World
March 26, 2006
The kid's got a healthy appetite. In the span of just a few hours on Wednesday, he devoured helpings of lasagna, chicken, pizza and barbecued pork. When he had wolfed down the shredded pork, he took a straw and drank the pool of grease it had been sitting in.
Tyrese is 7, and his energy and spirit are as big as his appetite, which is all the more amazing when you consider that the Union Rescue Mission on skid row in downtown Los Angeles is his 10th place of residence in a short life.
Now how much less land use regulation generally and "open space preservation" in particular would be needed in Los Angeles County to find a place for Tyrese and his family to live?
Points West
Boy, 7, Meets a NIMBY World
March 26, 2006
The kid's got a healthy appetite. In the span of just a few hours on Wednesday, he devoured helpings of lasagna, chicken, pizza and barbecued pork. When he had wolfed down the shredded pork, he took a straw and drank the pool of grease it had been sitting in.
Tyrese is 7, and his energy and spirit are as big as his appetite, which is all the more amazing when you consider that the Union Rescue Mission on skid row in downtown Los Angeles is his 10th place of residence in a short life.
Now how much less land use regulation generally and "open space preservation" in particular would be needed in Los Angeles County to find a place for Tyrese and his family to live?
Md.: Rush-hour traffic is fast slowing to a crawl
From the Baltimore Sun
Rush-hour traffic is fast slowing to a crawl
Report confirms increased congestion - and a few improved spots - in Baltimore area
By Michael Dresser and Rona Kobell
Sun reporters
March 26, 2006
Five years ago, Barbara Grey thought her half-hour commute from Catonsville to Annapolis wasn't so bad. Traffic jams were only an occasional headache as she drove to her state job.
But now, Grey says, she runs into backups all the time, and the drive takes 40 minutes to an hour. She has had to learn alternative back-road routes. She's beginning to think it's time to change jobs.
Grey is hardly alone among Baltimore-area commuters in concluding that roads in the region have become more jammed the past few years.
Now an eye-in-the-sky study provides photographic evidence that the problems they perceive are real and that rush-hour traffic congestion has gotten significantly worse on many major highways over the past six years.
[snip]
"Overall, the problem is getting worse," said Victor Henry, senior transportation planner for the council, a planning group that represents local governments in the city and surrounding counties.
Henry's conclusion is based on aerial observations by Skycomp Inc. of Columbia. Since 1999, the council has hired the company at three-year intervals to use airplanes with cameras attached to the wings to take pictures of the traffic on 575 miles of freeways and major arterial highways.
[snip]
She tries to commute at off-peak times, in hopes of keeping her drive to about 45 minutes. But when she has to be at work for an early meeting, the trip can take twice that long. The road is often clogged with commuters from Pennsylvania. If she leaves late to avoid the Pennsylvania traffic, she said, she runs into traffic from the closer-in suburbs as she nears the city.
"If I have to be here for something at 8:30 a.m., it's just a killer," she said.
According to Pedersen, Selway's commute along I-83 is consistent with the growth patterns highway planners have been seeing - with formerly rural areas turning into bedroom suburbs.
[snip]
Along with signs of increased congestion, the aerial survey provided evidence of successful countermeasures.
Traffic approaching the Fort McHenry and Harbor tunnels - rated "severely congested" in 1999 - were classified as "not congested" in 2002 and 2005. The metropolitan council's Henry attributed the change to the increasing use of E-ZPass to breeze past tollbooths.
The report is expected to be posted online this week at
www.baltmetro.org.
A few comments:
(1) Improving highways does help.
(2) Imposing Smart Growth (including "protection" of rural areas from growth) has not worked out so well, at least when it comes to highway congestion relief - consider the reference above to commuters from Pennsylvania - people who have "leapfrogged" the Baltimore County Urban/Rural Demarcation Line.
(3) None of Maryland's Smart Growth measures have slowed the decline in population of Baltimore City.
Rush-hour traffic is fast slowing to a crawl
Report confirms increased congestion - and a few improved spots - in Baltimore area
By Michael Dresser and Rona Kobell
Sun reporters
March 26, 2006
Five years ago, Barbara Grey thought her half-hour commute from Catonsville to Annapolis wasn't so bad. Traffic jams were only an occasional headache as she drove to her state job.
But now, Grey says, she runs into backups all the time, and the drive takes 40 minutes to an hour. She has had to learn alternative back-road routes. She's beginning to think it's time to change jobs.
Grey is hardly alone among Baltimore-area commuters in concluding that roads in the region have become more jammed the past few years.
Now an eye-in-the-sky study provides photographic evidence that the problems they perceive are real and that rush-hour traffic congestion has gotten significantly worse on many major highways over the past six years.
[snip]
"Overall, the problem is getting worse," said Victor Henry, senior transportation planner for the council, a planning group that represents local governments in the city and surrounding counties.
Henry's conclusion is based on aerial observations by Skycomp Inc. of Columbia. Since 1999, the council has hired the company at three-year intervals to use airplanes with cameras attached to the wings to take pictures of the traffic on 575 miles of freeways and major arterial highways.
[snip]
She tries to commute at off-peak times, in hopes of keeping her drive to about 45 minutes. But when she has to be at work for an early meeting, the trip can take twice that long. The road is often clogged with commuters from Pennsylvania. If she leaves late to avoid the Pennsylvania traffic, she said, she runs into traffic from the closer-in suburbs as she nears the city.
"If I have to be here for something at 8:30 a.m., it's just a killer," she said.
According to Pedersen, Selway's commute along I-83 is consistent with the growth patterns highway planners have been seeing - with formerly rural areas turning into bedroom suburbs.
[snip]
Along with signs of increased congestion, the aerial survey provided evidence of successful countermeasures.
Traffic approaching the Fort McHenry and Harbor tunnels - rated "severely congested" in 1999 - were classified as "not congested" in 2002 and 2005. The metropolitan council's Henry attributed the change to the increasing use of E-ZPass to breeze past tollbooths.
The report is expected to be posted online this week at
www.baltmetro.org.
A few comments:
(1) Improving highways does help.
(2) Imposing Smart Growth (including "protection" of rural areas from growth) has not worked out so well, at least when it comes to highway congestion relief - consider the reference above to commuters from Pennsylvania - people who have "leapfrogged" the Baltimore County Urban/Rural Demarcation Line.
(3) None of Maryland's Smart Growth measures have slowed the decline in population of Baltimore City.
