On Wednesday, AASHTO (American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials) and TRIP (A National Transportation Research Group) jointly released a new report.  The report titled “America’s Top Five Transportation Headaches – and Their Remedies” identifies our transportation problems and their proposed remedies.  The problems are:

1. 25 percent of the major roadways and nation’s bridges are in poor condition
2. Congested roads, highway and transit systems are overburdened
3. An unacceptably high rate of traffic crashes and fatalities
4. Increasing demand is stressing the transportation system
5. Rising costs for both drivers and highway construction

The first problem is clearly a safety issue and definitely needs our attention as evidenced by the Minnesota bridge collapse.  The second problem leads to many economic headaches and impacts our daily quality of life.  Problem three is confirmed with over 41,000 lives lost on our roads in 2007.  Problem four can be seen in a 23 percent population increase since 1990 and a 41 percent rise in vehicle traffic since 1995.  Finally, the fifth problem estimates that drivers are losing $249 billion each year due to traffic while construction costs have spiked 55 percent in the last 5 years.  This report states that we need to double our current national transportation investment to significantly improve transit.

Well that is incredibly scary, but fortunately the report also includes proposed remedies.  The proposed remedies are:

1. Move ahead with ready-to-go transportation construction projects
2. Putting unemployed workers back on the job
3. Demonstrate that the benefits outweigh the cost of improvements
4. Use the most cost-effective construction techniques and materials
5. Follow a long-range transportation investment strategy

The first remedy requires over $75 billion of additional funding for approximately 6,000 transit projects that are in the pipeline.  The second remedy estimates that every $1 billion invested would result in almost 27,000 jobs.  Remedy three simply states that we just need to show how much we will “save” by spending all of this money.  Remedy four recommends if we work smarter with improved materials we will get better return on our investment.  Finally, the fifth remedy is to plan smarter both now and in the future.

Now is it just me or is there really just one remedy in this list?  If we spend more money, we can fix these problems.  I think this report states the obvious and does not offer any real solutions.  So why have I devoted such a long post to this report?  Because it absolutely backs up all the arguments I have been making for Pay4Rides.  My proposed Passenger Energy solution directly addresses each of the 5 problems without massive spending.

Go ahead and look at my previous posts under the Red category and let me know if you agree:

Traffic - we are heading toward unbearable gridlock
Roads - ease burden on troubled bridges and roads
Mass Transit - limited schedules and routes with no flexibility
Cars - lots of cars cost lots of money
Energy - break our oil addiction

After reading this report, I think the biggest headache is in my own head.  Does anyone have some remedies for that?

The rich can avoid traffic, but what about the rest of us?

Congestion pricing charges motorists an additional toll to use a stretch of highway, a bridge or to enter a particular area during peak travel time.  Also known as “Lexus lanes”, these cater to the rich and hurt average working people who can not afford them.  Many auto commuters lack access to convenient mass transit, so you can not penalize them without first investing in improved rail and bus service.

In the Summer of 2007, New York City Mayor proposed a plan to introduce congestion pricing in Manhattan.  The plan proposed charging passenger cars $8 a day and commercial vehicles $21 a day for the right to drive below 86th street.  The plan stalled in Albany, but it is sure to come back in the future.

While researching this topic, I found an interesting short 4 minute film that makes a string case for congestion pricing.  Although when I watch this, I think it makes an even better argument for Pay4Rides.

In the film, there is a good quote from Bob Kiley, the Former Commissioner: Transport for London.:

“Under the skin, most of us don’t like change.  We’ll put up with bad circumstances because we fear the consequences of change.  Maybe it could be worse than it already is.”

I agree that many of us feel this way, but fear should not stop us from doing the right thing.

Reward for riding together

A high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane is typically reserved for a vehicle with a driver and one or more passengers.  Sometimes reward single occupant vehicles if they are hybrid or use alternative fuel.

They can also be used to improve bus and van traffic.  HOV lanes often carry more people than adjacent regular lanes of traffic and can also be designed as reversible lanes.  They can then serve double duty by carrying inbound traffic during the morning rush and outbound traffic during the evening ride home.

Why not reward drivers who reduce traffic, save energy and help the environment?  I think the least we can do is shorten their commuting time.

photo credit: Bitpicture

We are heading toward unbearable gridlock

Traffic gets worse every single day, the time to act is now.  As the population continues to rise, our limited road capacity is incapable of handling the increased volume.  The cost of building new highways is staggering and not possible in many areas.

photo credit: th.omas

This excessive congestion results in delays that cost drivers over $63 billion annually and over 2 billion gallons in wasted fuel.  The biggest cause of this problem is over 85% of America’s daily commuters are single driver private vehicles.

Why do people like cars?  They are more comfortable, faster, convenient, more private and flexible than any other option.  Pay4Rides could continue to provide these benefits while greatly reducing the total volume of vehicles at any one time.

Car Accidents – cost all of us

According to AAA, auto accidents cost over $164 billion each year, or over $1,000 per person.  The costs include medical care, emergency and police services, property damage, lost productivity and quality of life.  Nearly 43,000 people die each year on the nations roadways.

photo credit: tedkerwin 

Some people prefer the term “crash” since the term “accident” suggests an unpredictable, unpreventable event.  There have been many advances to reduce the cause of accidents including improved road design and better car safety standards. 

While these and other ideas are very beneficial, simple reducing the number of cars on the road would make Pay4Rides a very smart choice.

Our traffic volume exceeds our capacity

Congestion is a state of excessive accumulation or overfilling or overcrowding. Traffic congestion occurs when the volume of traffic exceeds the capacity of a roadway.

Census shows 282 million people in the U.S. during the year 2000 with a projected increase to 309 million by 2010 and 335 million by 2020.  This situation will only continue to worsen.

The 2007 Urban Mobility Report compiled by the Texas Transportation Institute estimates that traffic congestion costs Americans over $63 billion a year.  In 2003, the total amount of delay reached 3.7 billion hours, and 2.3 billion gallons of fuel were lost as engines sat idling in traffic.  “The congestion invoice” as it is called by researchers climbs drastically when you factor in current fuel prices.

How long are we going to wait to do something about it?

photo credit: rogerwp

What would happen if you close a city to car traffic? Take a look at this video to see the positive results:

This is a great example of how to solve the problems of traffic congestion with the use of bicycles. I believe this further proves that any reduction of car usage can have a profound impact on quality of life for all us. What do you think?

How a letter travels is analogous to each driver traveling their own unique route instead of traveling together for efficiency.  Today most of us are using something similar to a high priced courier service where each individual travels non stop directly from point A to Point B.  Passenger Energy would enable us to take advantage of lower priced delivery options.

If you look at the major shipping carriers, they include:

• US Postal Service – handles more than 44% of the daily mail volume

• UPS – the primary package carrier for Ground delivery

• FedEx – “When it absolutely has to be there overnight”

• DHL/Airborne – door-to-door express service for world wide delivery

• Courier Services – special services and same day rush deliveries

Can you imagine sending every piece of mail via Courier Services instead of all the other options?  The cost and inefficiency would be staggering.  Can we somehow apply the genius of our shipping systems to the problem of commuter traffic?

photo credit: divemasterking2000