Transportation Achievements And Fiascoes

With the average American spending 55 workdays a yearstuck in traffic, the Sierra Club released a report today to help communities tackle their transportation challenges. The map, "Smart Choices, Less Traffic," highlights the best and worst local plans for alleviating traffic congestion and air pollution... Each of the twenty showcase projects provides an innovative solution to local problems. Portland's Flexcar offers an efficient car-sharing program for residents who need a car, but only sporadically. Cities like Richmond, Virginia and Denver are restoring their downtown train stations, developing them into modern transportation centers that will spur economic development. Houston, Honolulu and Charlotte are all looking to light rail or modern bus systems to relieve congestion and offer choice to their commuters. Unfortunately, many public officials continue to support an anachronistic and unbalanced approach to transportation planning. Expensive and inefficient projects receive the lion's share of taxpayer funding. "Smart Choices, Less Traffic" highlights 28 nearsighted projects, such as construction of Houston's fourth beltway, Kentucky's I-66, Georgia's Northern Arc, and Raleigh's Outer Loop, which all threaten to increase rural sprawl and generate traffic without reducing congestion problems in the core communities.