According to emagazine, it's thanks to the Highway lobby that were all now stuck in traffic.
This in-depth article analyzes the role that the highway lobby has played in the problematic increase in gridlock, emissions and commuting time facing modern America. According to the article, the modern highway system, with its subsequent problems, was birthed in 1891 when the League of American Wheelmen began lobbying state legislatures for roadimprovements to support the fledgling automobile industry.Since that time,lobbyists, including the American Automobile Association (AAA), haverelentlessly focused on extending highways, often claiming that building more roads can remove "strategic bottlenecks," and therefore reduce pollution and congestion. According to this article, however, only alternative transportation, congestion pricing and telecommuting will reduce the pollution and gridlock caused by America's love affair with the car. Editor's note: Reader Nate Bilger makes the following addition to the summary: "It is important to know that the League of American Wheelmen was _not_ lobbying to support the fledging automobile industry, but it was a movement supporting the bicycle. It was just a coincidence that the same good roads that cyclists wanted in 1891 were the same ones that autos needed a few years later. The further irony then is that the automobile took over the roads, and bicycles have now been relegated to bikepaths or being cursed at by irate drivers."
Thanks to California Policy Forum
FULL STORY: Getting Out of Gridlock

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.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

California High-Speed Rail's Plan to Right Itself
The railroad's new CEO thinks he can get the project back on track. The stars will need to align this summer.

Santa Clara County Dedicates Over $28M to Affordable Housing
The county is funding over 600 new affordable housing units via revenue from a 2016 bond measure.

Why a Failed ‘Smart City’ Is Still Relevant
A Google-backed proposal to turn an underused section of Toronto waterfront into a tech hub holds relevant lessons about privacy and data.

When Sears Pioneered Modular Housing
Kit homes sold in catalogs like Sears and Montgomery Ward made homeownership affordable for midcentury Americans.
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.
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