Transportation Mad Libs

Hat tip to Russel King's post on LinkedIn

Everyone praises The U.S.'s freeway network. It is actually a financial, environmental and transport disaster.

One of The U.S.'s top urban planners has reviewed his country's freeway network.

The findings are sobering.

What he discovered should worry every transport planner on Earth.

The U.S. has built many fast highways.

But they have built far too many.

In the wrong places.

For routes that don't need them.

The claims are shocking:

• 40,000 km of routes didn't make sense
• Some lanes carry almost no passengers
• Interchanges are built far from city centres

Government officials love cutting ribbons on big transport projects. 🚄

But they forgot to ask simple questions first.

Do people actually want to travel here?

Is there a better way?

The U.S.'s regular roads are profitable.

They carry both people and goods.

And there are not enough of them.

The U.S. has spent a fortune on freeways but has neglected its intra-city transport.

That means more cars, more congestion and more pollution.

This matters for every country looking at freeways.

Freeways is brilliant when it connects large cities.

But The U.S. keeps building freeways to smaller places.

They want the fastest speeds even when conventional roads would be better.

The U.S. shows us what happens when you chase the shiny object. ⚠️

Instead of proper options analysis.

My blog post this Thursday will dive deeper into freeways.

And what other countries can learn from The U.S.'s and others' expensive mistakes.

Does your country have a sensible freeways strategy, or is it chasing the shiny object?