Goon Arguments for Automobile Priority

After someone can be made to recognize that a corridor where cars occupy 99% of the space and have (effective) priority at all conflict points, and admits that cars are being prioritized, they will then attempt to justify that priority. After several years arguing with goons on Twitter, this usually consists of series of disputable claims:

The Gas Tax Pays for It!

Delusion. The Federal gas is used to pay for the Federal Aid Highway System (US Interstates and US Highways), which (IIRC) represent about 1% of road miles. Secondly, the Highway Trust Fund (which receives gas tax revenues) has been bust since 2008 and has been bailed out six times using revenue from the General Fund, which comes (mostly) from income tax. 

The State Gas Tax Pays for It!

Dream on. The state gas tax is largely used to provide the 'match' share the Feds require the states kick in on US Interstates and Highways. The Feds pay for 80-90% of it but still require the states to kick in 10-20%. The rest of the state's gas tax gets used to pay for State Highways*. 

Developers Choose to Do it!

Nice try. Every talk to a developer, who'd like to cut three inches off the width of the road, so they could save themselves a million dollars? The specifics of how subdivisions get built (road width, pavement thickness) is highly specified by city ordinance. 

Cities Choose that for Their Roads!

Again, pre-emption. Most of the wide roads in cities are highways, and the state owns them*. And the state has its own standards for state highways, and those standards are highly focused on moving automobiles at highway speeds. Many states also have rules mandating certain standards (width) for roads anywhere in the state.

All Roads are Multi-modal!

Bunkum. If it was actually multi-modal, it would have a dedicated lane for that mode, and design standards that reflected all modes, and managed conflict between them.  If I design a home for horses, no one tries to pretend it's for humans, even when humans can use it. 

*Which, if you live in Ohio, might actually be all roads in the State.