US - Freeway Insanity

Something remarkable is happening in Vancouver.

In a reversal of a trend for the last 100 years, people are abandoning their cars and switching to transit, bicycles and walking. At the same time, the provincial government is pushing a major program of freeway expansion.

In June, Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon announced plans to spend well over $1 billion to expand the freeway from Langley to Vancouver. At the time it could be taken as pressure to get Translink directors to approve the province's planned RAV line. After all, most transportation planners -- and people who have observed Los Angeles' freeways -- recognize that expanding urban freeways only creates traffic jams and encourages sprawling, automobile-dependent suburbs. 'It just means a bigger parking lot,' said Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan. New Westminster Mayor Wayne Wright agrees. 'We can't take any more. We've got 40 000 cars a day right now'.