[Loki]

Came across an interesting piece about the leveling off of vehicle travel in Oregon and Washington since 2002 despite continued population growth. Indication of peak oil and associated price signals?

For months now, we’ve been tracking the fact that vehicle travel in the Northwest—both in general, and on specific urban highways—has been surprisingly flat for years, even decades.
One of the most common reactions to this news has been: well, duh, there’s a recession on. A few folks have argued that once the recession lifts we’ll see vehicle travel resume its steady ascent.

I think that misses the point of what we’re finding. The slowdown in vehicle travel started long, long before the current recession began. In fact, it started back when the economy appeared to be humming along quite nicely....

I’ll leave it to some future PhD student to figure out precisely what caused the shift in VMT trends in the late 1990s and early 2000s. I have lots of theories:
Major urban highways hitting capacity constraints;
Increases in gas prices, coupled with a growing belief that gas prices wouldn’t ever hit the lows of the late 1990s again;
Demographic changes, with more senior citizens and smaller families leading to less driving per person;
Land use shifts that let more people walk, bike, or take shorter, chained car trips for daily errands;
Possibly, declines in new road construction;
An increase in flexible work schedules, with more people working from home on some days;
The internet cutting back on shopping and/or work trips;
Cultural shifts that substituted tech toys for cars as objects of desire; and
Economic shifts, with fewer teens working (or looking for work) and widening income disparities that made it hard for some folks to pay for cars and gas.

http://daily.sightline.org/2011/08/08/d ... irca-2002/

[eastbay]

Great find. Interesting statistic/ graph. I drove from Sweet Home to Portland early this evening, mostly on I-5 (Sunday), and traffic was heavy; occasionally slowing to 40, then rising to 60. Wall-to-wall cars and trucks. Tailgaters ... lots of SUV's and large pick-up trucks. A fair amount of anger seemingly apparent in many people's faces as they passed by.

[Keith_McClary]

Building Bigger Roads Actually Makes Traffic Worse

Turner explained that the way we use roads right now is a bit like the Soviet Union’s method of distributing bread. Under the communist government, goods were given equally to all, with a central authority setting the price for each commodity. Because that price was often far less than what people were willing to pay for that good, comrades would rush to purchase it, forming lines around the block.

The U.S. government is also in the business of providing people with a good they really want: roads. And just like the old Soviets, Uncle Sam is giving this commodity away for next to nothing.

[KaiserJeep]

The Interstate Highway System was implemented by Dwight Eisenhower and it's purpose is to allow the rapid transport of troops from state to state, in order to facilitate defense against an invading army. So even if the IHS were closed to private vehicles and heavy trucks, we would still have such a system. But the fact that we have access to such a system and in fact use it for a significant amount of both personal travel and the shipping of goods is one reason we have enjoyed a healthy economy since the 1950's.

Anybody who has taken a road trip understands that the IHS also makes short and medium distance vacations relatively cheap to travel, compared to public transportation, which is not well developed in this country.

IMHO one thing that the Federal Government is doing wrong is trying to stimulate Public Transportation infrastructure such as electric High Speed Rail and Hydrogen powered bus's. They should instead be electrifying the IHS and the existing conventional railways using solar PV power generation. The objective should not be to re-design an already working road and rail system, but to electrify them. Both electric private cars and electric heavy trucks could use the Solar IHS during daylight, saving half the vehicle fuel we use today.

[ROCKMAN]

"Uncle Sam is giving this commodity away for next to nothing." IMHO Uncle Sam ain't giving sh*t away. He doesn't own the IHS. The folks (businesses and citizens) who paid with their taxes to build it and continue pay to maintain it, already own the IHS. In fact, the US gov't does own anything. They're just an overpaid caretaker IMHO. LOL.

[TheDude]

Out here in Newberg we're building Oregon's first freeway in 35 years, so suck it Econazis! They've been discussing this ever since my family moved here in the mid 80s - it was even being mulled over in the 50s. And really, the situation here is quite dire. It's quite the pleasure to do a bit of shopping on 1st street and listen to the trucks rumbling by, or slog through the parking lot that forms every day in Dundee, even on weekends. So, farewell traffic jams forever! Or not: the head of city planning told me that in 2035, even with the bypass in place, the traffic downtown will be just as bad as it is now...OK, we'll build another bypass! Suck it, Robert Caro!

Linked on the page from the OP is this, too: A Generational Shift In Driving? | Sightline Daily Just anecdotal but I've heard from plenty of parents about how their offspring are failing in their God-given duty to tool around pointlessly to shopping malls etc. Crummy little ingrates!

[Keith_McClary]

"Uncle Sam is giving this commodity away for next to nothing." IMHO Uncle Sam ain't giving sh*t away. He doesn't own the IHS. The folks (businesses and citizens) who paid with their taxes to build it and continue pay to maintain it, already own the IHS. In fact, the US gov't does own anything. They're just an overpaid caretaker IMHO. LOL.

Same with the Soviet bread - the comrades owned the bread factory.

[KaiserJeep]

Actually here in Silicon Valley, we are designing bullet cars with no drivers, solar roads, and all kinds of electric vehicles including heavy trucks.

I have an electrified light rail about 1.5 miles from my house. I have a conventional diesel railway for both freight and CALTRAIN commuter trains about 2 miles from my house. I use both frequently when I have to attend training or something at company HQ in Palo Alto, along with a diesel shuttle bus at the far end that goes around the company campus.

Public transportation sucks. It is more tolerable than commuting in a 15mpg Jeep Wrangler because my employer subsidizes half the cost of rail tickets and provides the free campus shuttle. I make it more tolerable by using an e-Reader to read books and view recorded videos. I once hoped to do-email on the train, but the bandwidth is low and the connection crowded with other users.

Working from home of course is the best deal, energy-wise.

I don't have a problem with conventional rail, which could be electrified as is the light rail, if diesel fuel were not so cheap. Maybe peak oil will solve that one.

I have no use for high speed rail (HSR). They are talking about a fenced right of way about 1/2 mile wide and hundreds of miles long, complete with security monitors. Don't talk to me about environmental impact, that is now productive farmland in the Central Valley. Perishable food is already being moved across country via refrigerated cars on conventional rail.

Electric aircraft are less than $50 at the local hobby shop, we could build full sized ones to replace all the pollution-spewing jets and never need the HSR.

[careinke]

"Uncle Sam is giving this commodity away for next to nothing." IMHO Uncle Sam ain't giving sh*t away. He doesn't own the IHS. The folks (businesses and citizens) who paid with their taxes to build it and continue pay to maintain it, already own the IHS. In fact, the US gov't does own anything. They're just an overpaid caretaker IMHO. LOL.

Good point ROCMAN the Government does not "Give" anything away. They steal from people by force, and spend it where they want. In the case of highways, they are spending it on something I appreciate, but it is still stolen money. It is, was it is, so I use the roads.

I could write up and get a lot of government grants to improve my property. I don't do that, because I prefer not to use stolen money to improve my lot. If it is a private grant, that is a different story. The money from a private or corporate grant is given voluntarily.

I've gotten a lot of flack for not going after government credits, grants, etc. I've also been given lots of rationalisations why I should take advantage of that money. But the fact is, it is stolen money, and I try not to use it.

[ROCKMAN]

Care - "They steal from people by force". I must disagree. The gov't is the great servant of the people and we are lucky to have them taking care of us. But must go now and finish preparing or my IRS audit.

Ta ta for now NSA.