Quick Mini-Manifesto:
- Urban freeways are linked to childhood asthma and other health issues.
- Urban freeways concentrate tailpipe emissions.
- Motorists passing through urban cores on freeways generally don’t pay local taxes but leave their carbon footprint via the tailpipe.
- Motorists passing through urban cores should be made to travel around the core, affecting less people.
- Urban freeways should be removed, replaced with higher-bandwidth transportation options – light rail, heavy rail and commuter rail – to serve residents
- Feeder systems and regional service should interconnect with the urban transportation network.
You could do everything above, or just do the following:
- Adequately tax the price of tailpipe emissions through congestion pricing.
I know this isn’t fully resolved, especially the increased emissions from making people drive around urban cores and the cost of infrastructure. I get that. This statement is polemical and one-sided on purpose to form a dialectic to studying this urban issue.
Comments?