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Our Roads
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The Roads We're On
It feels like every election cycle we hear the same thing, "We have a traffic and pothole problem." Despite the fact our elected officials have had years, sometimes decades, in office to fix it, the problem doesn't go away. Why? Because we're committed to staying on the same congested road hoping it will get better instead of trying to find a faster route.
So far, the only solutions the state government can come up with is to add new lanes or build new roads. But this only solves part of the problem. It's kind of like trying to use a screwdriver on a nail because you've seen how well it drives screws. Our public officials are unable or unwilling to admit the truth: Solving the road issues requires more than just building new roads. It requires a strong commitment to multiple problems. Let's take a look at the Roads We're On.
This parking lot sucks.
Parking lots take up a surprising amount of land in urban areas. There are parking lots everywhere but parking is always a nightmare. How can that be?
More cars on the road doesn't just mean more wear and tear on the roads, it means less parking where you're going. And we can never keep up. If we stay on this road, we'll pave over the buildings to make way for more parking. Talk about a snake eating it's tail.
How do I even get there?
A lot of us drive on the same roads every day, so it's easy to forget just how confusing driving on a road you haven't been on before can be. On some of our roads, we seem to have thrown the idea of it making sense into the air. As we build new roads or improve old ones, we haven't taken the care to see how it connects with old roads, causing a confusing, spaghetti mess.
If we stay on this road, we'll have a new intersection every five feet and your day will be filled waiting at traffic lights.
Why on earth do we have so many potholes? And why do they never get fixed.
The problem is the same as traffic: Too many cars on the road!
We can't just focus on filling potholes, we have to make an effort to reduce wear and tear on the road. This starts with smarter road planning, but it has to include things like public transportation as well. If we stay on this road, we won't have any road left!
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Our Biggest
Pothole Yet
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The Solution: Public Transportation
Getting On
The Right Track
There's never an easy solution, and certainly never a perfect one. But when an opportunity as simple, efficient, and developed as public transportation is right in front of us, I say we should grab it with both hands. Each train or bus with even one person riding it is taking another car off the road, which lowers traffic at any time of day. Less cars on the road means less wear and tear (less potholes!). Even if you personally don't want to use public transportation, it has only benefits. Had the US invested in high-speed rail 10 years ago, you could take a train from Houston to New York in just a couple hours, faster than air travel.
My plan involves setting up a Bus Rapid Transit System while we put in more permanent and efficient solutions like permanent bus lines and a passenger rail network through our state.