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sprawl FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE New Sierra Club Report Highlights Transportation Problems and Solutions Report Features 49 Projects across the U.S. that Reduce or Encourage Traffic, Pollution & Sprawl Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. With the average American spending 55 workdays a year stuck in traffic, the Sierra Club released a report today to help communities tackle their transportation challenges. The map, "Smart Choices, Less Traffic," highlights some of the nation’s best and worst local plans for alleviating traffic congestion and air pollution. The Oklahoma Chapter of Sierra Club says we have plenty of examples of bad planning right here in Oklahoma, but in some cases it is not too late to turn these around. "Visionary communities across the country are demonstrating that we can save commuters from traffic jams and air pollution by giving them sensible options for getting to work," said David Miller, Chair of the Red Earth Group of Oklahoma Sierra Club. "The twenty good projects highlighted in this report illustrate that there are creative and effective ways to reduce traffic, pollution and sprawl." The Oklahoma Sierra Club points to the “outer loop” north and west of the Oklahoma City area as an example of a bad plan that is similar to a proposed loop around Nashville, Tennessee (#44 on the report’s map). "Unfortunately, public officials in Oklahoma have neglected to follow the example set by the twenty showcase projects," according to David Miller. "Instead they have chosen to spend taxpayer dollars on new highways that will be far from existing communities, gobble up farmland and open spaces, and create new traffic corridors." Unfortunately, many public officials across the U.S. continue to support similarly unbalanced approaches to transportation planning. Expensive and inefficient projects receive the lion’s share of taxpayer funding. "Smart Choices, Less Traffic" highlights 28 nearsighted projects, such as construction of Houston’s fourth beltway, Kentucky’s I-66, Georgia’s Northern Arc, and Raleigh’s Outer Loop, which all threaten to increase rural sprawl and generate traffic without reducing congestion problems in the core communities. Sierra Club’s report doesn’t just focus on problem areas, it offers examples of good planning. Each of the twenty showcase projects provides an innovative solution to local problems. Portland’s Flexcar offers an efficient car-sharing program for residents who need a car, but only sporadically. Cities like Richmond, Virginia and Denver are restoring their downtown train stations, developing them into modern transportation centers that will spur economic development. Houston, Honolulu and Charlotte are all looking to light rail or modern bus systems to relieve congestion and offer choice to their commuters. Transit ridership in the U.S. has increased by 21% in the last 5 five years. According to a 2001 National Association of Realtors poll, 62% of Americans would try rail or train service if it is convenient, accessible and safe. Nonetheless, public transit projects receive merely 1/5 of the federal funding that highways get. #################### |
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