It’s raining in Seattle this weekend. And rain in Seattle means bad traffic. Rain on a weekend even worse traffic. Not that there is ever good traffic in Seattle any more.
As much as I (always) long for and miss Seattle, the thought of traffic makes my belly crunch, my muscles tighten and my pulse rise. To be gridlocked in the Mercer Mess. Stuck at an I5 onramp. Bumper to bumper on the highway. Detoured in Downtown. Sounds like a movie titel.
Seattle is often high ranked on the list of livable cities. But being nr. 7 on the list of most congested cities in the U.S is not a ranking to be proud of. And Seattle’s scores a top-five national ranking for traffic delay. Still, an early summer 2015 survey show that a huge number of Seattle-area commuters — close to half — can’t even imagine a scenario that would get them to ditch the car and take an alternative, even just once a week!
In a scientifically conducted survey more than 6,000 households were asked about hypothetical scenarios that might entice them to take transit, carpool or van pool at least one additional day per week. For example, gas at $5 per gallon (3,8 liter) elicited the strongest response, but it would still only change the driving behavior of 18.6 percent commuters. And if parking costs were to spike by 50 percent, 11 out of 12 drivers say they’d simply shrug it off.
To a Swede ca 44 kronor for 3,8 liter gasoline is nothing, but I can tell you parking costs in Seattle already are astronomical, at least compared to the Umeå standards.
The survey even asked if there was something else that hadn’t occurred to the attending that might do the trick. Again, no. Not many drivers could think of some other scenario that would get them out from behind the wheel. The survey seems to suggest that, to some degree current traffic nightmare is a prison of own making.
There is an upside though. 19.6 percent of respondents said that, if it were an option, they would take high-speed transit rather than drive. As a percentage, that is fairly low, but it projects out to more than 310,000 car commuters in the region. Imagine the impact on rush-hour traffic if that many cars disappeared from the roads!
And, here is the news: it is fall ballot time, and Proposition 1 in Seattle, to spend a record-high $930 million over nine years on streets, transit, pedestrian and bicycling routes, was winning handily Tuesday this week!
In March 2015, Mayor Ed Murray introduced Move Seattle, his ten-year transportation vision that integrates plans for transit, walking, biking, and freight. The idea is Move Seattle will help meet current demands while working toward future needs as Seattle continues to grow. Move Seattle envisions a transportation system that contributes to a safe, interconnected, vibrant, affordable, and innovative city.
Who wouldn’t like that for Seattle?! Well, quite a few as it turns out. And of course it’s about the money. Not just the $930 million for Move Seattle, but the nay sayers claim a yes to that kind of tax increase ($279 a year for a mid-value $450,000 home) would pave the way and give a green light for more tax requests.
Anyway, today mayor Ed Murray and about 56.5 percent of voters are happy, and here is the mayor’s plan for action:
“The first thing I want to get done is that the Safe Routes to School get built everywhere,” Murray said in an interview. The plan calls for equipping roads near every public school to include sidewalks, low speed limits, crosswalks, enforcement cameras or speed bumps.
No comments:
Post a Comment