Based on the CBC report, there is so much to unpack here:
“Halifax now has the third-worst congestion in Canada and the fifth-worst congestion in North America,” Fillmore said. “People here are spending 83 hours a year stuck in traffic. That’s the equivalent of 12 working days behind the wheel in gridlock.”
Mayor, people in cars aren’t “stuck in traffic” they are the traffic. The idea that putting more people on roads (by not having them use other forms of transportation) will somehow fix traffic congestion is so terribly wrong.
Coun. Sam Austin said he was disappointed in Fillmore’s motion and said bike lanes do not cause traffic congestion. He said delaying the work on bike lanes would worsen traffic.
Yup. And any work needed to expand car-centric infrastructure would absolutely worsen traffic, and then induce demand, which puts you back to square one without solving any problems.
Originally planned to be completed in 2022, about 60 per cent of the 53 kilometres of network has been done so far with temporary or permanent measures.
The bicycle network’s original expected cost of about $25 million has more than tripled, now reaching about $93 million. The provincial and federal governments have contributed about $20.8 million, leaving about $66 million for the Halifax Regional Municipality to pay over the next few years.
53km of network for $93 million???
For context, Durham Region, which has a significantly larger population, has estimated that over 200km of cycling network would cost them around $81 million.
Even so…
Halifax spends more than $50 million each year to repave streets, with this year’s capital budget totalling $314 million.
And those costs will continue to rise if the focus is on car-centric infrastructure. You don’t “get back” the money you put into road maintenance like you do with active transportation and public transportation.
Based on the CBC report, there is so much to unpack here:
Mayor, people in cars aren’t “stuck in traffic” they are the traffic. The idea that putting more people on roads (by not having them use other forms of transportation) will somehow fix traffic congestion is so terribly wrong.
Yup. And any work needed to expand car-centric infrastructure would absolutely worsen traffic, and then induce demand, which puts you back to square one without solving any problems.
53km of network for $93 million???
For context, Durham Region, which has a significantly larger population, has estimated that over 200km of cycling network would cost them around $81 million.
Even so…
And those costs will continue to rise if the focus is on car-centric infrastructure. You don’t “get back” the money you put into road maintenance like you do with active transportation and public transportation.