A look at HDPT's Draft Transit Strategic Plan • Chesapeake Bay cleanup faces difficult trade-offs with agriculture • How daylighting intersections make cities safer
Thanks for linking this post from your recent one. I appreciated reading your take on the document. The line “Ridership is projected to be higher in the fare-free financial plan, and state transit funding is based on ridership” is especially relevant to the conversation when we see other localities losing their fare-free structures. They have different ridership shares and funding sources, but it makes me glad for the position we are in now and I hope we continue to prioritize things this way.
As far as the I-81 widening, yeah… We’ve both spent time in urbanist spaces and are familiar with the concept of induced demand (and know the devastating effects highway widening has on communities in other ways), but I saw so many people excited about this when it was first announced. Tony Wilt brags about his role in making it happen, and honestly, I couldn’t even tell you one other bill he’s sponsored because that’s all I think about when I hear his name.
Wilt sponsored a bill in 2016 to specifically block the Harrisonburg Fire Department from regulating mulch beds up against apartment buildings after an apartment burned down from a cigarette flicked in the mulch.
One other question: have you read the Wes Marshall book linked above (Killed by a Traffic Engineer)? I haven’t read it, but on the face, the premise feels like a pretty bold claim. I’m sure I would agree with some of the conclusions presented about the role and duty of traffic engineers and city planners, but surely there also has to be a component of this that comes down to the personal responsibility of the drivers involved. I’d be interested to see the journey that book takes one on.
The personal responsibility of the driver is the excuse traffic engineers have been hiding behind for decades. 40,000 Americans die from car crashes each year. That's twice as many deaths compared to homicides. You should read the book. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4lR2fF0PskQ
Thanks for linking this post from your recent one. I appreciated reading your take on the document. The line “Ridership is projected to be higher in the fare-free financial plan, and state transit funding is based on ridership” is especially relevant to the conversation when we see other localities losing their fare-free structures. They have different ridership shares and funding sources, but it makes me glad for the position we are in now and I hope we continue to prioritize things this way.
As far as the I-81 widening, yeah… We’ve both spent time in urbanist spaces and are familiar with the concept of induced demand (and know the devastating effects highway widening has on communities in other ways), but I saw so many people excited about this when it was first announced. Tony Wilt brags about his role in making it happen, and honestly, I couldn’t even tell you one other bill he’s sponsored because that’s all I think about when I hear his name.
Wilt sponsored a bill in 2016 to specifically block the Harrisonburg Fire Department from regulating mulch beds up against apartment buildings after an apartment burned down from a cigarette flicked in the mulch.
True story.
https://legacylis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?161+cab+SC10224HB0944+RCHB2
One other question: have you read the Wes Marshall book linked above (Killed by a Traffic Engineer)? I haven’t read it, but on the face, the premise feels like a pretty bold claim. I’m sure I would agree with some of the conclusions presented about the role and duty of traffic engineers and city planners, but surely there also has to be a component of this that comes down to the personal responsibility of the drivers involved. I’d be interested to see the journey that book takes one on.
The personal responsibility of the driver is the excuse traffic engineers have been hiding behind for decades. 40,000 Americans die from car crashes each year. That's twice as many deaths compared to homicides. You should read the book. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4lR2fF0PskQ