California is indeed
in the midst of a transportation crisis but it did
not happen overnight. Once upon a time we were
the leader in planning ahead, in being innovative,
and in bringing quality infrastructure to our state’s
residents. Our freeway system was once the envy
of every state in the Union. Today it is
falling apart for lack of maintenance and bursting at
the seams in traffic load. We are choking in
our own success and growth.
California once
represented the American Dream. Affordable
housing, clean and safe neighborhoods, and an
efficient modern freeway system attracted millions of
residents. As they come today they see a state
that is barely able to keep its lights on or
transport itself from one place to the other. Great
leaders like Governor Pat Brown once made investments
into our infrastructure that we are still living off
of today.
Then came shortsighted
leaders like Jerry Brown who told Californians to
“lower our expectations.” We stopped
investing in our schools, our freeways, our
infrastructure. We thought that if we stopped
building new infrastructure that we could keep
newcomers out. But our population has grown
anyway. Our climate, economic opportunity, and
the “California Dream” continues to draw
people from all over the world. At first people
did not notice it because of all the planning ahead.
But finally the enormous problem is staring at us in
the face and we are only beginning to come to grips
with how big it is.
Already the California
Transportation Commission has told us that it would
take more than $100 billion (which is about the
amount of our entire annual state budget) to bring
our freeway system into good repair and adequate
operating condition. As our leaders today
debate and argue how to pay for it or whether or not
to even build new freeways, we continue to pay the
cost. Traffic congestion costs Californians
billions of dollars every year in lost time, wasted
fuel, stress, and delayed freight costs.
Road rage has become a
normal word as the streets have become battlegrounds
for angry commuters fighting for an ever smaller
piece of pavement. In the meanwhile we have begun
building rail and transit systems that only 5% (at
most) of the people want to or are able to use.
While transit and commuter rail systems do play an
important role in the movement of people, they are
only used by a small portion of the population, even
in areas where plentiful transit is available. And
even the most optimistic estimates by transportation
planners tell us that extensive investments into rail/bus
transit will only eke out another 5% of commuters
into transit. This leaves 90%-95% of California’s
transportation needs using a system largely designed
and built 40-50 years ago.
How quickly we forget
how efficiently these freeways once moved us.
Skeptics will tell us that there is no way we can
“build ourselves out of traffic congestion.”
But they haven’t even given it a good try!
We build one lane here or one small freeway here, and
usually only a decade or two later, traffic has
already reached crisis levels. Then when the
new freeway is instantly overwhelmed these same
skeptics claim that the new freeway “induced”
more traffic to use it. But in reality it is
acting as a “relief valve” for the
horrendous traffic clog that already exists.
The reality is that we
can solve our traffic problems. In some cases
the choices may be tough as it may require building
in dense, built-up areas. This is tricky and
requires extensive community involvement and
mitigation. In other cases we have the
opportunity to plan ahead in growing areas, to build
up our highway infrastructure before new development
takes away the right-of-way for the highway.
But in any case it is a choice we are going to have
to make sooner rather than later. The longer we
wait the more painful it will become. In all
other aspects of our life we do not accept a “defeatist”
attitude when it comes to solving problems. As
Americans we always “find a way.”
Transportation is of extreme importance to us because
it affects our everyday lives, our time with our
families, and our well-being.
Traffic congestion
also harms the environment and consumes precious
natural resources. Cars idling in traffic emit
more pollutants than do cars that travel at normal
speeds and thus burn fuel efficiently. Idle
cars waste fuel and thus cost us more money and are a
poor way to use dwindling supplies of fossil fuels.
Freeways also move our
trucks and our freight. Many of the goods and
food items that we buy in our favorite stores were
transported to us by truck. As trucks waste time
sitting on crowded highways they will pass these
costs to the consumers of these items. With the
advent of free trade agreements and a unique
geographical positioning near the emerging markets of
Asia and Latin America, California is going to see
increasing amounts of freight moving on our highways.
Some of this freight will move by rail, but we will
still see many more trucks on our roadways.
These trucks will continue to compete for scarce
freeway space with local drivers.
Other states around
the country and other nations around the world are
increasingly becoming aware of the importance of
investing in highway infrastructure. Some
cities, like Phoenix, Arizona and Houston, Texas have
actually made gains against traffic congestion by
investing heavily into their road infrastructure.
It us not too late for
California to become the leader in serving its
citizens by investing in efficient highway
improvements. Traffic congestion is solvable.
It will take strong leadership and an involved public
to make it happen. We need to tell our elected
leaders that we demand good roads that to get us to
work, to school, and home again to see our families.
Our economic success and quality of life depend on it.
Don Hagstrom
Director, Friends of Southern California’s
Highways
