There's an old saying that advises "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." But if you are one of thousands of people traveling on our region's overburdened and clogged highways each day you can probably relate to a modified version of that proverb - it's broke, let's fix it.
The problem is traffic congestion. Our region rates some of the worst traffic in the country (ranking behind only such major cities as Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and New York). We've outgrown our transportation system. In the time it took to build our current freeway system, the region's population grew by two-thirds. At the same time, the number of miles people travel each day grew by a whopping 450 percent. Today's increased number of two-worker households, more frequent job changes and longer work commutes are putting more demand on our transportation system than it can handle.
No one likes traffic. It takes a frustrating toll on our time and our nerves. But much more sobering and far reaching is the impact congestion has on our jobs, economy and environment. Congestion reduces productivity by making it harder for employees to get to work on time. Those same traffic jams also make it more difficult to get goods to market. Such impacts can cause existing companies to relocate and potential businesses to look elsewhere for places to expand and build factories. And as companies leave they take vital jobs with them.
Just building more roads won't solve the problem. There isn't enough space or money to build enough roads to keep up with growing transportation needs. Southern California learned a costly lesson that investing billions in more roads and freeways doesn't eliminate congestion.
The answer is to take a cost-effective and balanced approach to increase the capacity of the existing system by offering a package of transportation options - including improving transit and increasing road capacity in some areas. Collectively that system of options could actually slow congestion growth, reduce the growing strain on our roads and provide a reliable, efficient and congestion-free alternative for those that use it.
