I-78 Corridor Transit Study
I will be attending the I-78 Corridor Transit Study meeting tonight with Councilwoman Bross. The study is in response to the increasing level of vehicular traffic along I-78 between Lehigh Valley, PA to the West and Somerset County, NJ to the East.
More information available here: I-78 Corridor Transit Study
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I’m impressed that this study isn’t just another group demanding more lanes and higher speed limits as some sort of ‘magic wand’ for traffic problems.
The problem with traffic in NJ, as in other high-density areas, is simple–historically, there has been little, if any, serious traffic planning in light of our state’s economy. The entire economic engine of this state is designed around the truck and automobile–for ALL commuters, manufacturers, teachers and state workers alike! The state DOT’s offices are inaccessible by commuter rail. The major pharmaceutical and communication company headquarters? If you want to get there, you have to drive. With oil costs rising, pollution mounting, and roadway maintenance costs skyrocketing, this system doesn’t work anymore.
Big companies that are landlocked from mass transit (Merck, J&J, AT&T, Pfizer, etc) ought to be providing shuttles to train stations and bus park & rides. Highway expansion funds ought be dedicated to mass transit projects to provide more convenient, timely, and reasonably-priced service to areas where these headquarters now are (i.e., rural or suburban locations). Once that is in place, there could be a fee charged to anyone that insists on driving his car if there is a viable mass transit option. There ought to be tax incentives for a homebuyer to purchase her new home within walking distance of a rail station.
It’s a big shift in policy and planning–but it’s the only way out.