Regional and Intercity Bus\Rail Transportation

[lrt's friend]

Meanwhile, we keep adding lanes to the highways to serve exurban drivers. Which is really inducing sprawl more?

The fact of the matter is that we live in a free society where market forces are setting housing prices, the location and type of housing and also the location of jobs.

I would say that we cannot and should not control the housing market too much. The government is going to screw it up. I don't want to live in a city where strict controls result in a large portion of the population living in low quality high rises. We have seen this in 'projects' in American cities and in communist countries. This should never be our goal.

Transit reacts to reality and will always be subsidized by the taxpayer, just as roads are fully subsidized by the taxpayer. Building a toll ring around the city without a transit alternative is an extreme response, and restricts the urban population as much as exurbans. I don't want to live in an urban prison.

The idea of a bus free downtown is a ridiculous goal. The small number of exurban commuter buses will have negligible impact on traffic. If it ever became a problem, we will need to be thinking of commuter rail service.