More evidence of the decline in vehicle use:
… .the Metro (Portland) travel behavior survey data shows … vehicle miles traveled (VMT) have declined by 26 percent per household since 1994.
While the region has experienced a 4 percent decline in auto trips, the central city has seen an 18 percent decline in car trips and inner neighborhood trips have dropped by 13 percent.
And yet, that is not reflected in how the money gets spent:
From 1995 to 2010, the region spent $4.2 billion on roadway improvements, while spending $2.3 billion on other modes.
Decision-makers, particularly at the state and provincial levels, are as committed to Motordom as ever. In fact, they seem, in the face of dropping traffic and rising temperatures, to be doubling down – whether hoping to spend billions on the Columbia River Crossing or on the Fraser.
Sightline continues its series – Dude, Where Are My Cars? – with a take on the Port Mann:
… traffic on the Port Mann Bridge in Surrey, BC peaked in 2005, and then fell modestly but steadily through 2010.
A wider Port Mann crossing will likely be less congested than the current bridge, at least at first; and history has shown that free-flowing urban highways tend to attract new drivers. But it’s also tolled bridge—$1.50 each way for the first year, $3.00 and potentially rising with inflation thereafter—and tolling tends to reduce traffic volumes.Toss in some uncertainties around oil prices, vehicle efficiency, land use, and government policy, and there’s just no telling what the future traffic trajectory might be.
