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Iowa Makes a Bold Admission: We Need Fewer Roads
An anonymous reader writes: During a recent Urban Land Institute talk, the director of the Iowa Department of Transportation, Paul Trombino, told an audience that the road network in Iowa was probably going to "shrink." Calling for fewer highways isn't what you'd normally expect from a government transportation official, but since per capita driving has peaked in the U.S., it might make sense for states to question whether or not to spend their transportation budgets on new roads.
I for one applaud this trailblazing official who is paving the way by providing a roadmap for other officials to follow while going down the road to more efficient government and leading the drive towards a more fiscally responsible America.
Now if only somone could give us a car analogy
The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
Where we're going, we don't need roads!
Happy 30th, Back to the Future!
"I have no special gift, I am only passionately curious." - Albert Einstein
Is what's good for the goose, good for the gander?
Only if you adhere to outdated gender roles, you insensitive clod.
I'm a Californian. Nothing in this discussion makes any sense to me. The idea that you may not need more roads is... completely foreign. Do I need a visa to move to Iowa? It sounds great.
I know this answer doesn't work for everyone, but as a Seattlite too, my suggestion is to ride the bus, ride the light link, or get a bike. If you do live outside of an area where this is feasible, then encourage others to do so, because the fewer people on the roads in single loaded cars, the better it is for all of us. Lower costs, less traffic, lower pollution, everyone wins. The other reason why Seattle's traffic sucks so much is that we don't want to mess up our beautiful lakes, so no new bridges get built. You have a choice, a reduced single car commute, or maintaining the beauty of the region that you seem to love.
As a side note, my 4.5 mile (one way) commute to work on a bike burns over 2000 calories a week and is typically faster than getting home in a car in the afternoon. No need to spend time at a gym and added time by not sitting in traffic.