Good news: The Metropolitan Council and its transportation planning staff take a realistic view that the Twin Cities area cannot just build its way out of traffic congestion.
The draft version of the Met Council’s 2030 Transportation Policy Plan Update recognizes that many metro area drivers see congestion as a serious problem. However building our way out of congestion by expanding our highways is arguably not the solution but a part of the problem. Says the draft summary, “Instead of providing reserve capacity for decades, new highway lanes can fill up in a matter of months.”
And it’s worth keeping in mind, as we battle with congestion, that the Met Council’s 2005 transportation planning documents found the Twin Cities region to have the second shortest travel time to work among the 25 largest metropolitan areas in the country, based on Census 2000 data.
Given limited resources and the high costs of congestion, the draft TPP says, the metro area needs to pursue alternatives to congested travel, including better use of existing lanes and right-of-ways and better transit. But transit — as well as walking and biking — is more than just a solution to congestion for rush-hour travelers. Alternative modes of travel are important in their own right for providing affordable transportation and access to destinations for all citizens of the Twin Cities region.
Various organizations, including the St. Paul Chamber of Commerce, have raised concerns about the limited East Metro transit corridors and options included in the plan and how that might affect future development in the area. The Met Council’s analysis of congestion and construction comes in a broad-reaching, draft TPP that focuses on mobility in the region and lays out actions the Met Council might take to preserve, improve and expand the region’s transportation system in the context of land use.
The draft TPP recognizes the importance of more compact land use but, unfortunately, only goes as far as offering encouragement in that direction. Using less land for development and transportation could help solve congestion problems because that would reduce the vehicle miles traveled.
A coalition of four transportation and environmental groups recently issued a response to the Met Council’s draft TPP, calling for bolder visions and action and saying, more specifically, that the transportation plan lacks measurable outcomes, fails to identify adequate funding to support its goal of doubling transit ridership by 2030, gives too little attention to bicycling and walking, lacks clarity regarding highway prioritization, and lacks commitment to strategies that will advance more transit-supportive land use.
The Met Council’s draft TPP deserves praise for its suggestion that we can’t build our way out of congestion. However, if we are to reduce traffic congestion and develop a truly integrated, metro-wide transportation system, bolder visions and actions are needed. The Met Council will accept comments on the draft TPP until 5 p.m. on November 6 via its website.
— Skye Stauffer, Growth & Justice intern, and Matt Kane
I don't see how anybody could be against greater funding for public transportation, and this well written piece adds credence to by belief.
Posted by: Max. K | November 06, 2008 at 12:18 PM