Quote:
Originally Posted by austlar1
M1EK- I suspect you and I are the only ones interested in this little debate, but this is what I uncovered in my online search. In 1990 Austin had 430 freeway lane miles; Phoenix had 580. In 2000 Austin had 575 freeway lane miles; Phoenix had 1030. In 2005 Austin had 585 freeway lane miles; Phoenix had 1405.
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Intuition tells me to look at the population stats of Phoenix back in 1985-1990 time frame. They were probably experiencing congestion problems similar to what Austin had in 2001 and took action. It would make sense for them to build more freeways, because they have more people. At that time, toll roads may not have prevailed, so they passed a special tax. Fast forward to 2001 and Austin is now at approximately same population as Phoenix circa 1985-1990. However, in the state of Texas, the city of Houston has now had tremendous success with its toll road model, and Austin follows Houston, rather than the Phoenix model to get the needed roads built.