From: "Paul Wight" <wight-AT-globalnet.co.uk>
Subject: Fw: M-TH: false criticism
Date: Mon, 30 Mar 1998 23:17:47 +0100


>Doug Henwood wrote:


>Gary Dale wrote:
>
>>boddhisatva wrote:
>>
>>Further, the studies indicate that with a
>>sufficient population there is no benefit in widening roads or improving
>>access.  Drivers always take up the slack.
>>
>>-----
>>
>>Yeah, it's the same with hospitals: build more and people
>>will only want to use them.
>>
>>
>>Yours, for the production of more use-values,
>
>For once, Boddhi is absolutely right - and Gary Dale compounds his error by
>saying a second wrong thing. It's an absolute consensus among people who
>study transportation that building new roads or expanding existing ones
>does not reduce congestion or speed up travel times. It results in people
>taking trips by car they wouldn't have taken otherwise. The reverse also is
>true: after the collapse of the West Side Highway in Manhattan in the
>1970s, it was discovered that only 7% of the previous highway users
>migrated to city streets, with the other 93% of the trips not being made.


Doug,
Well, as long as "it's an absolute consensus among people" I'd probably
better not disagree, however...

Firstly, I'd be among the first to agree with you that we should demand much
better funded and rationally planned public transport, especially in cities.
For my home town of Manchester, I'd like: an extensive underground system,
free taxis, and a massive new high speed inter-city railway system put in
nationally, with a nice wide guage, 12 ft. say.  (Please.)  It should be a
fairly simple matter, since even even Victorian Britain managed to put in
some railways, canals, undergounds etc.  (They didn't have to concrete over
Britain to do it either, come and take a look.)

But none of this is on the agenda.  In fact few people are asking for it,
and when I think it through, I suspect that if anyone was actually
threatening it, there would be widespread concern. It would encourage too
many "uneccessary" journeys maybe???  I thought travel broadened the mind.
Those 93% of journeys not made because there was no convenient transport
system, that represented the limiting of peoples lives.  Basically, stay at
home, capitalism can't afford travel anymore.

Regards,
Paul






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