😀🚲The $2M/day Portland Bureau of Filling Potholes (and maintaining / creating #InducedDemand to create more potholes) needs a rethink. #Transportation
Maybe this is supply-side economics: there is an infinite supply of driving to meet what your city's streets demand. #inducedDemand
When your city #transportation dept goes out on the street and makes bike lanes work, they're not going to need to ask for extra money. The costs come from #InducedDemand encouraging more driving. And if you think drivers from the suburbs are bringing more than they cost us, why isn't the bureau able to complete the transportation systems plan, let alone get up to date on street surface maintenance? Every mile driven costs us about $1 more than any tax revenue associated with it.
DoomsdaysCWOh, and of course, I knew once #AmazonCorp announced plans to build a warehouse in #GorhamME, the #GorhamConnector would rear its ugly head again... And even though #JanetMills' brother #PeterMills is no longer in charge of #MDOT doesn't mean the new director won't be pushing this... Instead of a light rail system or rapid bus transit on the existing roads (and / or safer bike lanes. I knew friends who used to bike from Gorham to Portland, but it got too dangerous because of a lack of dedicated bike lanes and speeders).
#MDOT will launch new examination of traffic issues west of Portland
The state study will focus on Gorham, #ScarboroughME, #SouthPortlandME and #WestbrookME.
Robert Lowell, April 22, 2026
Excerpt: "The announcement of the new study comes just days before Amazon goes to the Gorham Planning Board on May 4, seeking approval for a warehouse and distribution center on Main Street (Route 25). Traffic will likely be one issue fueling concerns about the Amazon project.
"The study also comes in the aftermath of plans the Maine Turnpike Authority shelved last year for a four-lane toll road connector to Gorham. The connector was aimed at reducing commuter rush-hour traffic in the routes 22 and 114 commuter corridor [which the #Maine Legislature failed to make go away!]
"A connector would have linked the roundabout at South Street (Route 114) and the southerly end of Gorham’s Bernard Rines Bypass with the turnpike’s Exit 45 in South Portland. The connector proposal was met with a public outcry because it called for cutting a swath through #SmilingHillFarm in #WestbrookME."
Archived version:
https://archive.md/Rh3bH
#MainePol #InducedSprawl #Maine #RuralLife #SaveTheFarms #SaveRedBrook #MainersForSmarterTransportation #Maine #MaineNews #GorhamBypass #GorhamSpur #Maine #RapidTransit #SaveTheFarms #ProtectTheForest #InducedDemand #Sprawl #SaveRedBrook #ProtectTheWetlands #BrookTrout #SaveTheForest #Wildlife #HuskyLine #RapidBusTransit
Parents For Future #EndFossilFuels 🪧🛢️❌
Brent ToderianI’ll make this VERY clear — if you don’t understand very well critical truths like #InducedDemand (aka the Irrefutable Law of Congestion) and its twin truth #JevonsParadox, you are not qualified to make transportation-related decisions affecting cities.
And your profession will make cities worse.
RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:pchnq7klmm3ejqduuqaqrsd6/post/3mjp36vjox22g
RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:pchnq7klmm3ejqduuqaqrsd6/post/3mjp36vjox22g
The cost of expanding freeways is like 3x any possible benefit when you neglect all the damage cars do and consider only the land value. #noMoreFreeways #inducedDemand #CarsRuinCities
Putting 12 Urban Freeways Out to Pasture
Ben FultonThe amount of money local governments spend on putting in and ripping out infrastructure boggles my mind.
"The council said the proposed changes would “introduce expanded capacity for vehicles travelling towards the town centre” and “pave the way” for an already-approved new bus lane on London Road"
We need a sexier way to say "Induced Demand". Something like, "People use what they're given".
Council “scaling back underused cycle lane” to allow more cars on busy route and make “best possible use of road space we have”
Reading Borough Council says it is “scaling back” what it claims is an “underused” cycle lane, as part of plans to ease the pressure on the road network on one of the town’s busiest routes – by adding an extra lane for cars and enabling more motorists to use the road.According to the local authority, ... Read more
GCN getting woke on #modalFilters #BanCars #InducedDemand started with #cargoBikes #eBikes #transportation
🤣 > we could have walked it quicker
