One subtle way that employers are influencing transportation decisions is offering abundant parking. ![]() If the traffic that Houstonians dread is caused primarily from working people, it would follow that employers have enormous power to worsen or alleviate the problem. I think we can all agree that the worst traffic exists at rush hour times when people are getting to work or going home after. Get employers involved with reducing traffic I have listed here some basic, no-brainer options to reduce traffic in Houston ordered from easiest and cheapest to most difficult and costly. Before we jump on the bandwagon of a technology that isn’t implemented anywhere, let’s consider options that other major cities - some smaller and less dense cities than Houston - have already done. Traffic congestion is a complex problem facing cities across the US, and there is no “silver bullet” solution, especially for a sprawled city. I see no reason that autonomous vehicles and MaX lanes would “essentially replace most bus and rail transit.” I’ve seen this time and again on Highway 290, and people end up stuck for hours. Not only would personal or commercial autonomous vehicles take up space on the road also, but the idea of an autonomous “van” service that would pick up many people at their destinations sounds awfully like…I don’t know…a bus…? How much will this really reduce traffic, even if we add dedicated “MaX” lanes for it? Wouldn’t switching lanes over to MaX lanes restrict traffic for people in personal vehicles? HOV (MaX) lanes are great, but they are really terrible when there is an accident. But let’s be rational and get over the hype. I have nothing against autonomous vehicles- I think they will be a huge success and contribute enormous benefits. While I will proceed to make an example of this article in particular, there are so many like it that seek to convince you that autonomous vehicles will be the end-all-be-all of ground transportation and that all past methods are essentially antiquated or irrelevant.
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