I love my car, and I love the
freedom of the open road to go wherever I want, whenever I want, but have you
driven through Austin lately during rush hour? Four days a week, I drive down South
Mopac in the morning, and sit in traffic. I do allot of things such as sing, or
listen to talk radio, or watch my fellow commuters (they are pretty
entertaining), and I think. What I think of the most is why isn’t there a
commuter train running down the middle of Mopac, and if Austin had a decent
mass transit system, how many of these car jockey’s would use it? I for one
would, but it has to be convenient, affordable, safe, clean, and consistent.
Private transportation as we know
it has an expiration date. Gasoline supplies can’t and won’t last forever. Eventually,
oil will run out, and then what? Without a solution to this problem soon, we
could all be riding bicycles, or skateboards, or walking everywhere (at least
we’d be fit). Anyone who spends time in Europe and experiences the transit
system there will discover that we are in the dark ages when it comes to mass
transit. So, we must become more aware of our public transportation needs and
options now, before it’s too late.
Austin does have a light rail
system, and I have ridden the train from Cedar Park to downtown Austin a couple
of times just for kicks. But it is too light, and it doesn’t cover enough areas
or the correct areas to really be practical for the masses. For one, stops need
to be in high density retail or business areas. For example, the stop in Cedar
Park is in an area with no businesses within easy walking distance of it. It
should be somewhere closer to maybe the Lakeline Mall, or along 183. And, there
is another stop on McNeil road, which should have been near or at the Domain
shopping area. The problem is that we waited too long to build a rail system,
so it is very expensive and all of the prime spots are gone, so we have no
choice but to build them away from everything, and it’s only going to get
worse. For more on this subject, check out this article by Lyndon Henry, “Austin, Texas: City's Urban Rail Plan NeedsMajor Overhaul”, posted on the website “LightRailNow!”. It is all about how Austin is missing the
boat (or train), when it comes to rail commute.
The costs of building a realistic
mass transit system are great, and will get greater as time passes, but the
really scary question is “What Are We Going to Do When the Oil Runs Out”? It doesn’t even have to run out, it just has
to be on the decline, which it is. In the article “Has the World Already Passed “Peak Oil?”, Mason
Inman of National Geographic News says this about peak oil., “The year 2006 may
be remembered for civil strife in Iraq, the nuclear weapon testing threat by
North Korea, and the genocide in Darfur, but now it appears that another world
event was occurring at the same time ...
that’s the year that the world’s conventional oil production likely
reached its peak …”.
So, we do need to plan for the
future now. Cities will become more populated, private vehicle usage and drive
times will increase due to congestion, and vehicle operating costs will
increase. And, the investment expense of realistic mass transit isn’t too much
knowing that it is going to get more expensive in the future.
What do you think?
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ReplyDeleteI believe that we do need a light rail system in Austin, one that also spans into Austin's suburbs. This type of transportation is very efficient and avoids the pesky traffic of Austin. I read somewhere the other day that Austin has some of the worst traffic in the United States. By creating a light rail system, the passengers would get to their destination faster without having to deal with the stress of traffic. In addition, the passengers on the train would be off the street, and thus Austin's roads wouldn't be as congested. Though, I do believe that Austin's bus system is fantastic, as I use it twice a week to go to the Rio Grande ACC campus. Yet, the bus system is using gasoline and oil, which is not energy efficient like a light rail. Austin's population is growing quickly and people need a more efficient way to get to places. So, we should get a jump on creating a light rail system soon because the new good spots to install it will be taken.
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ReplyDeleteI am writing this post in reply to Mr. Olson's post about mass transportation which can be viewed HERE. The following picture is an illustration of what happened to me yesterday during rush hour traffic.
ReplyDelete///Unable to post photo. Please click here http://tylerclevenger.blogspot.com/2012/11/blog-stage-6.html
That is my vehicle shown here in the picture. I was on FM 2222 headed towards FM 620 stuck in stop and go traffic when BAM I was plowed into from the driver behind me causing me to hit the car in front of me. I'm fine but I am absolutely sick of the traffic in this town and completely agree we need mass transit right now. If I could avoid not only the traffic but the drivers on their phones texting during rush hour I would be much much happier and feel plenty safe. Population has grown so much in recent years with Williamson County increasing by 63% according to money.cnn.com Austin has grown by 200,000 since 2000 according to the 2000 and 2010 census. Not only Austin but other surrounding cities like Buda, Georgetown, Hutto, and even Manor have exploded in population. This growth only increases traffic and the new toll is to expensive to ride on. With a system like mass transit many of these problem can be solved.
I strongly agree with implementing a mass transportation system that can allow everybody to get to work mostly stress-free without having to worry about being rear-ended by rushed businessmen trying to make it to their 9 AM shift. I am glad you touched up on this subject because it is something that needs to be addressed considering the ungodly amount of downtown traffic near the greater Austin area. The first step is raising awareness.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you can get enough people to vouch that chugging your car along to work 5 days a week, every week, will start to be quite consuming of gas and your car's value will start to diminish over time (along with our oil supply). Yes, implementing a transit system WILL be expensive but wouldn't you consider that a worthy investment? It would definitely be more economically efficient than a gas guzzling Hummer.
That being said, what about electric cars? I'm sure those have a say in Texas' future (perhaps near future) as well. That can cut down the gas and oil issues quite a bit in Texas, but still leave the problems of downtown traffic unanswered.