Dan Bertolet argues that adding expanding car capacity in cities just inspires more people to drive and ruins the qualities that make the city attractive in the first place.
Bertolet was inspired to write in response to naysayers speaking out against expanding bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure in Seattle:
"The crucial point is that car infrastructure not only encourages driving, it also sabotages mobility by any other means. It's a vicious cycle: roads beget sprawl begets car dependence begets roads, and so on. And the result is an ever-expanding built environment in which walking, biking, and transit are not viable options.
The only way to break the vicious cycle is to invest our limited transportation dollars in infrastructure that will help make walking, biking, and transit more attractive than driving."
Read the full story: Car Capacity Is Not Sacred
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By prioritizing a multi-modal approach and preserving existing vehicle space, the Seattle Department of Transportation risks abandoning the goals of its bicycle master plan.
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California, Hawaii, Rhode Island approve housing propositions
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Officials claim feds 'rushed' Amtrak environmental review
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FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
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City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority