Dense Housing, Buses Urged to Ease Traffic

In efforts to accommodate growth with population expected todouble over the next 20 years, local transportation officials andconsultants in Riverside County propose a fast moving shuttle systemmoving through densely populated communities. The shuttles would connectto regional bus and rail lines, and would travel in carpool lanes onfreeways or their own lanes in order to offer a faster service. Byclustering growth in high-density pockets of the city, land would befreed up to set aside for open space and parks, planners assert. Criticscontend that such blueprints lead to sprawl, for they decentralize thetraditional centers of growth into surrounding community clusters. Inaddition, there is no guaranteeing that residents will utilize theshuttle system, although planners predict that worsening gridlock willstimulate public transit ridership.

Thanks to California 2000 Project