In Colorado, an ambitious new highway policy is not building them
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Re: In Colorado, an ambitious new highway policy is not building them
#2Massachusetts has not widened highways inside of 128 for 50 years now.
And I am so grateful for that.
Re: In Colorado, an ambitious new highway policy is not building them
#3> If every car on the road were battery-powered and those batteries were charged entirely by renewable energy, transportation emissions would be close to zero.
This is entirely false. I'm surprised to see it in the NYTimes. They're only 0 when you factor out the cost of building the car and maintaining the highway, and those are still pretty high
Re: In Colorado, an ambitious new highway policy is not building them
#4Massachusetts has not widened highways inside of 128 for 50 years now. And I am so grateful for that.
We're actually going in reverse. In the next 2 years a horrible little spur of elevated highway that cuts through Somerville (McGrath) is getting demolished and replaced with a nice boulevard. That whole area is just blighted at the moment. It's going to become some of the nicest housing with parks and shops.
Re: In Colorado, an ambitious new highway policy is not building them
#5"Induced demand" as a reason not to do something is illogical.
The Green Revolution increasing crop yields induced demand for humans. Metro systems existing and building new lines induce demand, in some cases resulting in overcrowding. Building housing and offices induce demand in a location.
There is nothing wrong with improving a thing so that more people are able to do that thing.
I can understand concern about emissions without necessarily agreeing. But induced demand is simply a good thing - you are allowing more people to realise their desires.
Re: In Colorado, an ambitious new highway policy is not building them
#6I am skeptical that all the tradeoffs are being considered here, it sounds like a recipe for permanent bad traffic justified with dubious moralizing.
By the way, she is the daughter of Jack Lew who was President Obama’a Chief of Staff.
Re: In Colorado, an ambitious new highway policy is not building them
#7> If every car on the road were battery-powered and those batteries were charged entirely by renewable energy, transportation emissions would be close to zero. This is entirely false. I'm surprised to see it in the NYTimes. They're only 0 when you factor out the cost of building the car and maintaining the highway, and those are still pretty high
> They're only 0 when you factor out the cost of building the car and maintaining the highway
And manufacturing the renewable electricity generation infrastructure isn’t zero emissions either.
Re: In Colorado, an ambitious new highway policy is not building them
#8> If every car on the road were battery-powered and those batteries were charged entirely by renewable energy, transportation emissions would be close to zero. This is entirely false. I'm surprised to see it in the NYTimes. They're only 0 when you factor out the cost of building the car and maintaining the highway, and those are still pretty high
It's not false, it's misleading. Emissions are from exhaust only according to the EPA https://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/smog-vehicle-emissions . Greenhouse gas and pollutants from building the vehicles and roads get lumped into another category. There is a valid reason for this, in that that's the main thing the EPA regulates with respect to vehicles, but it also lets people make misleading statements like this one.
Re: In Colorado, an ambitious new highway policy is not building them
#9> If every car on the road were battery-powered and those batteries were charged entirely by renewable energy, transportation emissions would be close to zero. This is entirely false. I'm surprised to see it in the NYTimes. They're only 0 when you factor out the cost of building the car and maintaining the highway, and those are still pretty high
also people who care about EVs tend to forget about tire wear and brake dust. Both are emitted in huge quantities, esp. tire microplastics, by EVs.
Re: In Colorado, an ambitious new highway policy is not building them
#10> If every car on the road were battery-powered and those batteries were charged entirely by renewable energy, transportation emissions would be close to zero. This is entirely false. I'm surprised to see it in the NYTimes. They're only 0 when you factor out the cost of building the car and maintaining the highway, and those are still pretty high
There are still emissions from cars: rubber from the tires, steel, aluminum, and other metals from part wear...