Saturday, May 13, 2017

How to recognize a transportation boondoggle

Rendering of Masonic Ave
Masonic Avenue "Streetscape" project

Randal O'Toole provides ten ways to know when a transportation project is a boondoggle.

Number 8 sounds like a combination of the under-construction Masonic Avenue bike project and what the MTA has planned for Page Streetmake it a bike boulevard:

8. It’s a bike lane project that reduces the number of lanes for automobiles. Many cities are attempting to encourage cycling while simultaneously discouraging driving by converting auto lanes to bike lanes, such as by changing a four-lane street to a two-lane street with a center left-turn lane and two bike lanes. This probably doesn’t increase bicycle safety, but it does increase traffic congestion. It is nearly always possible to find parallel local streets that can be turned into bicycle boulevards without impeding through or local auto traffic. All bicycle projects that reduce the capacity of arterial or collector streets to move automobiles are boondoggles.

Last year O'Toole gave us this eternal truth about transportation projects: "All you have to do is mention the words 'public transit' and progressives will fall over themselves to support you no matter how expensive and ridiculous your plans."

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2 Comments:

At 4:05 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

This is how it works.

It starts here
https://smartgrowthamerica.org

Then it branches off to these guys
https://smartgrowthamerica.org
And http://www.transformca.org

Transformca are the ones that created the gas tax and pushed for it. They created brt in sf. Sfmta follows their plans.

Research is good.

 
At 10:26 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Since day 1 I have always said this is merely a way to slow traffic on Masonic. As a north-south bike route it is too steep for the average biker. I have been biking for years in the city and while I can take this hill, most others (in particular families with kids) will have to end up walking their bikes up the hill...what an utter mess and waste this is!

 

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