Colorado’s Bold New Approach to Highways — Not Building Them
www.nytimes.com
The state has made it harder to widen highways, and transportation officials are turning their eyes to transit.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/16028585

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/10092805

In Colorado, that new vision was catalyzed by climate change. In 2019, Gov. Jared Polis signed a law that required the state to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 90 percent within 30 years. As the state tried to figure out how it would get there, it zeroed in on drivers. Transportation is the largest single contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, accounting for about 30 percent of the total; 60 percent of that comes from cars and trucks. To reduce emissions, Coloradans would have to drive less.

  • Showroom7561@lemmy.ca
    142·
    5 months ago

    That would help, but wouldn’t do much for the mountains of people in cars on the weekend… going to stores they could easily walk to.

    Personal driving needs to be one of those things that you might do a few times a month, when necessary, to get to a destination further than 25 km away.

    The only vehicles you should regularly see on roads are delivery, emergency services, transport trucks, and maintenance vehicles.

    Anything else can be handled by public transportation, micromobility, walking, bikes, zoom calls, etc.

    Yes, it’s not easy for everyone to do that, which is why government should step the hell up and subsidize and incentivize the crap out of every mode of transportation that isn’t a car. Give away free e-bikes to every family if you need to, just get people out of cars!

    • gramathy@lemmy.ml
      6·
      5 months ago

      Depends on where you live, food deserts are pretty common nowadays because it’s just assumed you can drive to the dtore

      • Showroom7561@lemmy.ca
        4·
        5 months ago

        Exactly why we need to deconstruct car infrastructure and promote 15 minute cities.

        Food deserts are also, in part, due to systemic racism and the lack of incentive to invest in impoverished areas.