Roger Millar, secretary of the Washington Department of Transportation, critiqued the status quo of statewide approaches to transportation planning and investment.
Angie Schmitt shares news of a progressive leader at a state department of transportation—usually bastions of the status quo for transportation planning and engineering.
The subject of the article, Roger Millar, the head of the Washington Department of Transportation, recently addressed the annual gathering of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) in Spokane last week, and Schmitt provides some of the perhaps surprising details of that speech.
Like, for instance, Millar saying that despite one of the highest gas taxes in the country, Washington can't afford more highway widening projects. " "About 71 percent of the state’s gas tax revenue is consumed by interest payments to pay off previously completed projects, he told AASHTO’s Joint Policy Committee."
That's not all. "The underlying cause of traffic congestion in the state of Washington is not insufficient road infrastructure, Millar said, but the dearth of “affordable housing and transportation solutions.” While people who can afford to live in city centers may have good transit options, housing in those areas is so scarce that lower-income residents are forced into long car commutes, he said…"
Schmitt is sharing news first broadcast by the AASHTO Journal.
FULL STORY: Washington State DOT Chief: Fixing Congestion With Highways “Fiscally Impossible”
Planning for Congestion Relief
The third and final installment of Planetizen's examination of the role of the planning profession in both perpetuating and solving traffic congestion.
How Planning Fails to Solve Congestion
Solutions for congestion are never as simple and easy as armchair planners and engineers would like you to believe—especially those who suggest that congestion can be solved by forever building more roadway capacity.
Planning and the Complicated Causes and Effects of Congestion
What do planners know about congestion, and what can they do about it? Explanations and solutions are less obvious than they seem (part one of a three-part series).
Rethinking Redlining
For decades we have blamed 100-year-old maps for the patterns of spatial racial inequity that persist in American cities today. An esteemed researcher says: we’ve got it all wrong.
Montreal Mall to Become 6,000 Housing Units
Place Versailles will be transformed into a mixed-use complex over the next 25 years.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
LA Falling Behind on Housing Goals
Last year, the city permitted just 30 percent of the number of housing units needed to meet a growing need.
Connecting Communities to Nature Close to Home
Los Angeles County’s Nature in Your Neighborhood program brings free, family-friendly wellness and nature activities to local parks, making it easier for residents to enjoy and connect with the outdoors.
Palmdale’s Beloved Water Park Gets $2 Million Upgrade
To mark its 20th anniversary, DryTown Water Park has undergone major renovations, ensuring that families across the Antelope Valley continue to enjoy safe, affordable, and much-needed water-based recreation in the high desert.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
City of Clovis
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions