Car and Driver Magazine: “We Must Consider Alternative Transportation”

While I was prepared for a screed about how "bike paths" and other silly things (sarcasm intended) were depleting the highway fund and taking away the precious "playground" of automobiles, I instead found that the car magazine I read as a boy and that has catered to car lovers for 50 years — came to the conclusion that perhaps simply building more roads and maintaining all existing ones is futile.

Check out this excerpt (emphasis mine): "The inevitable conclusion is that we cannot possibly build enough roads to satisfy demand, so we must consider alternative transportation systems ... we need to take a hard look at what role highways should play and how they fit into the broader transportation network."

The article also goes against the ideas in the U.S. House transportation proposal released by Rep. John Mica earlier this month. Most experts read Mica's plan as an attempt to strip funding for everything but traditional highway projects. One car magazine isn't likely to influence the national debate; but it certainly shows that the unsustainable expense alone is compelling enough for many people — including those far beyond active transportation advocacy circles — to question our auto-centric status quo.