More smarts, fewer roads?
No one likes being stuck in traffic jams. Unfortunately, as housing subdivisions pop up increasingly farther away from major job centers, traffic congestion has grown steadily worse for commuters.
The solution? A vast majority of U.S. residents say that they’d rather see developers build more transit-oriented developments and municipalities improve public transportation instead of sitting in traffice as construction crews build additional roads to battle traffic congestion.
This was the opinion of three-fourths of the respondents to the 2007 Growth and Transportation Survey conducted by the National Association of Realtors and Smart Growth America.
Nearly half of the survey’s respondents said that improving public transportation would be the best way to lessen traffic congestion. An additional 26 percent said that they’d like to see developers build communities that reduce the need of its residents to drive. These transit-oriented developments have grown in popularity in recent years. Located near downtown train stations, they usually include residential and retail in close proximity to each other, so that residents never are forced to drive for groceries, restaurants or other consumer needs.
This is good news. My family and I made sure that we lived near a commuter train station when we moved nearly two years ago. This way, I could ride my bike to the station whenever I needed to hoof it into Chicago. We also live near shops, our bank, the public library and a local grocery store. We can survive without having to hop in the car every day. Bus and train service is within walking distance. I can attest to the benefits of not having to drive everywhere you need to go: It’s healthy for you and the environment.
Problem is, I wonder how many of the survey respondents would really take advantage of public transportation if they had improved access to it. Often, it seems that people think public transportation is a great idea for their neighbors, not necessarily for themselves.
It reminds me of a great story I read once in the Onion. (If you don’t know, the Onion is a satirical newspaper. It’s extremely funny.) The story focused on a fake survey stating that 100 percent of commuters agreed that public transportation was a great option for everyone else.
Tags: commuting-times, Growth-and-Transportation-Survey, transit-oriented-developmentRelated Stories
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