Commuters in North Carolina's greater Triangle area do not have any choice but to drive amidst skyrocketing gas prices. Local urban planning experts blame consumer attitudes and the region's suburban character.
Without options, except extremely difficult ones, commuters are car-bound in the Triangle area of North Carolina. As a professor of urban planning at UNC-Chapel Hill indicates, "A gas-price increase would rarely detract you from driving."
"The Triangle grew up with the highway. As the region grew, it followed a suburban commuter model that relied on the automobile and interstates without much thought of mass transit." Some new developments in the Chapel Hill area are trying by zoning pedestrian-friendly districts. A commuter rail project in the area is underway, but is not scheduled for operation until early 2008.
Thanks to Connie Chung
Read the full story: Drivers still wedded to cars
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Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
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University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
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