Sean Kershaw's Weblog
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February 15, 2008
Blogging my December Viewpoint on Transportation
I welcome comments on my December Viewpoint on how a "civic policy agenda" would apply to an issue like transportation.
It's useful for me to think about how this new model for policy making that we're trying to use would apply to a specific issue like transportation.
Posted by Sean Kershaw at February 15, 2008 5:01 AM
Comments
Indeed, making all costs and benefits transparent is critical to decision making.
So, too, is distinguishing causes from symptoms. Very few people make a choice to have a longer commute. They make a choice to live somewhere that results in a longer commute.
So.. why did they make the choice to live where they do? Cost of housing? School district? Close to family? Day care? Other SO's job is closer to house? Other?
When you understand why the initial decision gets made, then you can address the "symptom" of the transportation issues that result from that housing decision.
I think sometimes we are amazingly good at pouncing on symptoms and then being surprised that "fixing the symptom" doesn't work because it didn't address the cause of the symptom.
IMO, we first need to build an interlocking transportation system that allows people to go "most places" without needing a car. We need to figure out how we can have "workforce housing" closer to the central areas where most jobs are concentrated. And we continually need to analyze job patterns to understand how they impact transportation.
Posted by: Lynn G. | February 25, 2008 12:27 PM