Chicago: Bus Only Lanes, Adjustable Rate Parking Meters
by Judd WileyMay 1st, 2008, 3:51 pm
Chicago has accepted a federal bribe of $153 million – similar to Los Angeles – to create bus-only lanes in another social engineering experiment to speed up mass transit and benefit the environment.
The new lanes will allow Chicago Transit Buses to zip past all the other vehicles on the road, which will be forced into the remaining lanes. The buses will also be allowed to speed through intersections by signaling traffic lights to give them longer green time. The CTA plans to use the $153 million bribe to buy new extra-long hybrid buses.
In return, Chicago will switch to privatized parking meters with adjustable rates, which will increase during peak hours. The range will be as low as 25 cents for one hour in light traffic neighborhoods, and as high as 25 cents for five minutes in heavily traveled downtown areas.
The experiment copies a system that Mayor Richard Daley saw in Brazil, which uses rewards and punishments to reduce traffic congestion and clean the air. Daley is confident that his plan will slash traffic congestion. He envisions 100 miles of bus-only lanes in Chicago, as well as 100 miles of bike lanes.
How does any of this reduce traffic? All the arguments against toll lanes in LA apply here. By creating a dedicated lane for buses, you are reducing the amount of road capacity for everyone else. By privatizing parking meters with adjustable rates, you are pricing out poor and middle class people who can’t afford to pay and who then clog up other parts of the city.
Like the idiots in LA, Mayor Daley and the CTA nitwits are sticking it to everyday commuters in return for federal tax dollars. And for what? Hybrid buses?
Chicago is the eighth most congested city in the U.S. and it deserves better than this.
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Posted in Bus-Only Lanes, Buses, Environmentalism, Parking Meters, Traffic Congestion |
