Give The Infrastructure To Bikes, Mass Transit
I was just thinking about how it seems like a political impossibility to raise the gas tax. If Obama did it, he’d get tossed out after one term. Ditto for any and all members of Congress. So, what to do about raising some cash for failing infrastructure?
Well, he can and should do it at the beginning of his second term - if he gets one. He should do what I suggested. Just propagandize Americans for a couple of years beforehand about the inevitability of a significant gas tax hike. Talk about how much the Euros pay, and all the wonderful benefits of having real transit options.
Congestion pricing and market parking pricing will help downtown areas, but what about crumbling infrastructure all over suburban America?
I’m inclined to just give it to bicycles - they cause a lot less wear and tear on roads. Things are more spread out in the suburbs, but lots of people are going to have a lot less money, so fewer people will be driving, and the ones that do drive, will drive less. In other words, there will be lots of underutilized asphalt - let’s give it to bikes.
I’ve been thinking about this massive car project - Doyle Drive. Why don’t we just condemn it? It’ll just be a colossal waste of resources to build a new car-focused road into the city. Let it live out its natural life, then condemn it. If it’s already unfit for use, then we have to condemn it right now. Instead of building a new and improved road - a motorized traffic-inducing road - why don’t we just take the money and do something long-term that will benefit San Francisco?
Doyle Drive does not need to be rebuilt, it needs to be phased out.
The new congestion charge will get rid of some of the folks that use it right now. Increased ferry service will help get others into town. Others can bike or drive or take the bus. We should look at long-term options for having the SMART train run all the way to the new Transbay Terminal. The new Doyle Drive should not be built. It’ll just condemn San Francisco to another 60+ years of misery. We need to start thinking long-term. Let’s start making adjustments to reduce the flow of private automobile traffic into the city by the Bay Bridge. Let’s bang private automobile traffic over the Bay Bridge for a few more bucks a pop. A $3 congestion charge is a great start, but why not $10? If you’re driving your car into the city from the North Bay, you can afford it. And if you can’t, get on your bike, or the bus, or the ferry. There are plenty of ways to plan for the demise of Doyle Drive in the next earthquake. Isn’t it slightly ridiculous to be building a new, higher-capacity road for private automobiles into San Francisco in the year 2008?
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