A new approach to addressing the potential transportation impacts of new development in urban areas, outlined in a new report by our State Smart Transportation Initiative (SSTI), could be a powerful recipe for reducing the demand for driving, while helping create more prosperous transit- and pedestrian-friendly cities.
For decades, most local, regional, and state governments have had a myopic approach to handling the transportation needs related to infill development: they require developers to add more street/road capacity. And this single-minded approach has produced lots of new, expensive roads that increase driving, pollution, roadway deaths, and impediments for people trying to get around without cars. A more productive approach seeks to minimize traffic from development before resorting to just building expensive, bigger and wider roads.
How can we cut our emissions, fuel consumption, while also reducing congestion and providing more space for jobs and housing? The US EPA’s smart growth office released a new study (5 mb pdf) examining the impact that good infill development can have on reducing transportation demand and lowering emissions. In some ways, this study picks … Continued