
At 100, ‘Mr. Freeway’ looks back at his concrete creations - Oatseller
http://news.usc.edu/88612/mr-freeway-who-paved-the-way-for-road-trips-turns-100/
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pcunite
I have tremendous respect for the elderly. My dad use to take me to visit my
great-granddad when I was 12. He was about 94. This was sometime in the late
'80s. We would mow his yard for him. I have his gold pocket watch that was
made in 1908.

He would take us for a ride in his big '70s car. When crossing a street, he
would look both ways, then punch the peddle, maybe because he thought it was
safer to get across as quickly as possible. One day they took away his driving
privileges. It will be nice, I think, when we do have autonomous vehicles -
for people like him.

My dad told me one day, "If I knew I was going to live this long, I would have
taken better care of myself." Point taken. Put down the twinkie; go for a run
and wear sunblock.

~~~
darklajid
> When crossing a street, he would look both ways, then punch the peddle,
> maybe because he thought it was safer to get across as quickly as possible.

Not sure what the point was here, to be honest: That's what I was taught about
20 years ago when I got my license and I still believe that 'crossing as fast
as possible' or put differently 'leaving a crossing instantly' is a good idea.

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revelation
_We built these freeways, and they’re not generating less trips, they’re
generating more_

The guy already knew back then what people still won't believe today. And
we're still building roads.

~~~
6d0debc071
The full quote has a slightly different tone though:

 _" We built these freeways, and they’re not generating less trips, they’re
generating more. More freedom. People want to live out away from the city and
drive in to work, or they want to live in one part [of the metropolis] and
work in another, or go shopping or so forth. They don’t want to live all in
one place like they do in New York."_

~~~
revelation
How so? It doesn't change the basic equation. Building roads is building
incentives for car dependency, and building them to have "less traffic" is
missing the point dramatically.

~~~
detaro
Who is building more roads to have less car traffic overall?

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ant6n
Most roads are built to accommodate existing traffic that can't be handled by
existing roads.

~~~
detaro
Of course, but no-one says that this results in fewer cars moving about. It
only removes pressure locally.

~~~
msandford
The better the roads get, the further out people live. I call this the law of
constant misery. People will move out of the city as far as a ~45 minute
commute will allow them.

This is a very common theme all across the world and time. It's quite
literally the tragedy of the commons, nobody has any direct incentive not to
move further out or drive all the way across town or whatever and we all
suffer in traffic for it.

~~~
nitrogen
Maybe it's rising housing costs forcing them out instead?

~~~
msandford
I doubt it because it tracks the building of the roads very neatly, and
second, if you own the house then there isn't a rising housing cost. I live in
a post-car city where most of the city has been developed after cars existed
and as a result it's mostly suburbs which tend to be owned rather than rented.

