And You Think Wider Highways and Bigger Bridges Will Solve Congestion?

vancouver-traffic_p3043244_p3435930

Let’s build more highways and bigger tunnels and bridges to cure congestion. Let us build 10 lane tunnels and bridges; let us build ten lane highways: let us build ourselves out of gridlock.

Sorry, facts show that one cannot build oneself out of congestion and gridlock as building bigger bridges and tunnels and wider highways does not cure congestion and the opposite happens, congestion and gridlock gets worse.

Gordon Campbell’s multi lane Port Mann bridge replacement has not cured congestion and in fact has made congestion worse, with Highway 1 gridlocked from Chilliwack to Vancouver.

The Massey Tunnel replacement is more of the same with politicians wanting bigger and wider bridges and tunnels to solve gridlock but the opposite will happen, as it has done over and over again, congestion will increase and gridlock continues.

Thus Metro Vancouver’s bridge, tunnel and highway expansion craze, costing billions of dollars, will not solve congestion, but make it worse.

Why then all those cars on the road? Why are they not using SkyTrain?

Simple answer is, SkyTrain does not go where they want to go. The transit system is wedded to an extremely dated hub and spoke, transportation philosophy where buses meet rapid transit at hubs and customers transfer and transfer again at the next hub.

Unlike much cheaper light rail (up to ten time cheaper), SkyTrain is stuck in a 1970’s bubble in a 2020’s world and customers are voting with their cars their dislike of transit.

The big problem is that regional, provincial, and federal politicians still believe that transit is a side show, a distraction and the real vote getter is bigger and bigger bridges, tunnels and highways with affordable transit options quietly ignored.

gridlock

The Unstoppable Appeal of Highway Expansion

U.S. transportation authorities have spent billions widening urban freeways to fight traffic delays. What makes the “iron law of congestion” so hard to defeat?

Leave A Comment