Correction: Highways ALONE don't work. A big city where subways are the only way to move around will eventually have a congested subway. What you need is both roads AND trains, or some other form of public transport that's separated from road traffic.
But you cant do the weekly shop for a family with bus journeys and 10 carried bags, so single pringals with e-scooter who like neat cool cycle paths everywhere maybe realise when you get older, a car to get out and about and do the shop is invaluable.
The Big Dig may have been a ham hamded tactic that ultimately failed, but at least they did a large infrastructure project. I'm in Quebec City where the mayor is calling for the TGV to to Toronto, the tramway and tunnel to Levis, but there is so much opposition that all three projects may be killed or delayed indefinitely while the costs keep mounting.
They did a large infrastructure project that: 1. Cost way more than they had intended 2. Took way longer than they had intended 3. Didn't actually solve the issue, just put it underground 4. They robbed the MBTA coffers to fund the project and now all these years later, the MBTA is a complete, underfunded and dilapidated, unmitigated disaster
it's because this has been brought up recently (look up the September 2022 Boston transportation crisis I think) and now they are trying to improve the transportation system even further as the Big Dig traffic capacity goes higher and higher with the easing of COVID-19 restrictions. (or maybe this has been going on since long ago and there are many reasons or problems around this place)
I think I can sum this up the more traffic Boston has every day it will continue to get worse year after year the problem is not only vehicles and public transportation are still not enough it's going to get worse before it gets better you really need to look at a different picture
I wonder if the stifling of public transit (rail, LTR, and subway) was due to lobbyists paid by car makers to protect their bottom line. It seems to be a national problem with clusters of gridlock and inadequate public transportation 🤔.
I read a very interesting book called "Unbuilt Victoria", about how NIMBYISM and BANANAS killed hundreds of projects in Victoria, BC. The city could have looked extremely radically diferrent than it does now, it could have looked like Jetson city with elevated freeways and flyovers everywhere.
Boston's traffic nightmare will never be resolved,because of the large metropolitan p😅opulation,who prefer driving to waiting outdoors in all kinds of weather!
Isn't it ironic that the self avowed champion of more and better rail transit instigates a highway megaproject that has doomed rail transit expansion for the next half century.
I think if you made it 24 hours people wouldn't need their cars/aka less traffic but then it might turn into the nyc subway with homeless/crime maybe who knows
@@LPCContentManager I think if you made it 24 hours people wouldn't need their cars/aka less traffic but then it might turn into the nyc subway with homeless/crime maybe who knows
True. One of the few good things to come from the pandemic is that many people realized that they liked working from home and never went back, so the trains are less crowded. They just need to run more frequently.
Boston is the most ridiculous city in terms of public commute because there are way too many international students young professional people living in the very center. It is not Miami. It is not Los Angeles. It is Boston. It’s extremely walkable and the public transportation is a joke. that’s another reason why the traffic is so bad along with the fact that the road planning was ridiculous to begin with. It’s literally a doodle if you check them from the top.
How exactly did the Central Artery split the city? I used to commute to Boston from Chelsea and worked in the North End, I just had to walk under an overpass to get to work. This idea that the Artery separated two parts of the city and that there was no way out is so fucking stupid ; it's just an urban myth made up by all the proponents of the big dig to get their billions $$$ of federal money. There was commerce going in and out of both sides of the C.A. every day. The whole thing was just a fucking bridge going over the city.
Yes, I too remember walking under the Central Artery to get to the North End. But let’s face it, it was ugly, dirty, and smelly. The Rose Kennedy Greenway has made the city much prettier and cleaner. Not only is there less pollution because the Artery is underground, but the plants and trees on theGreenway provide more oxygen. Colorful songbirds, once confined to the suburbs and countryside; now frequently visit the Greenway’s gardens. I’ve even seen rabbits on the Greenway. The Big Dig also allowed for the development of the Harbor Walk, the Walk to the Sea, etc. Also, before the Big Dig, the only way to walk to the North End was to go on Hanover Street, past Haymarket, under the Artery, and continue down Hanover, which was (and still is) one of the most crowded places in Boston. Now, you can take North Street, Salem Street, etc. and avoid the crowded sidewalk on Hanover Street. Not to mention, the Artery was falling apart and needed to be replaced. If they hadn’t put it underground, they would’ve had to replace it either with a surface road or another elevated highway.
