So do I. But the recommendations of the Triangle’s Special Transit Advisory Commission (STAC) won’t get the job done, writes JLF’s Michael Sanera in this point of view column published this week in the Raleigh News & Observer.
What’s really behind STAC recommendations, and what will work? From Sanera:
What will work to decrease traffic congestion, improve air quality and save fuel?
* Improving intersections by better coordinating traffic signals and adding more turn lanes. The most congested intersections should have under- and over-passes to speed traffic flow.
* Adding lanes in the most congested corridors while downplaying low-priority road projects.
* Using high occupancy toll (HOT) lanes that encourage either carpooling or driving during off-peak hours.
* Promoting telecommuting and flextime through regulatory changes and property-tax breaks.
* Making wise use of bus rapid transit. To its credit, the STAC plan does include increased use of BRT.
The regional planning and transit bureaucrats who created the latest Triangle transit plan weren’t really trying to fashion transportation policy. They were trying to remake the region’s economy and land-use patterns according to “Smart Growth” principles that are, in truth, reactionary. They envision urban employment cores, dense residential neighborhoods and rigid commuting patterns based around a 19th century technology, the train, that bear little relationship to reality.
