"No affordable mass transit or commuter rail system can possibly be built linking anything more than a handful of people to where they live and work. One could argue that, once built, high-rise dwellings and high-employment centers would spring up. That has not been Atlanta's experience with rapid rail in the decades since the east-west line opened. And with the possible exception of the Lindbergh station, MARTA hasn't driven density around stations on the north-south line, either."
"The practical remedy is to ratchet down density in all but the places where roads exist to carry it. Just as water withdrawal permits exist, so too should jurisdictions be assigned traffic-addition permits for every major highway based on the road's carrying capacity. If cities or counties want to add traffic, they should be required to jointly fund new capacity."
Comments
vicious circle
This article leads to a common circular argument. First the road lobby's supporters prohibit density because there isn't transit- then they oppose transit because there isn't enough density to support it! Somebody has to break the cycle somewhere!
And Self-Defeating
It is also self-defeating. They want lower densities to reduce congestion so they can get around more quickly. But they don't realize that the lower densities also mean they have to drive longer distances.
If they had densities low enough to avoid congestion (much lower than Atlanta's current density), they would have to spend more time on the freeways than they do now.
Charles Siegel