The battle for Fairfax County chairman may come down to the influence of a new book by two researchers at a free-market think tank. David Weigel of Reason magazine reports:
The epochal Fairfax (VA) County chairman race between Democrat (and incumbent) Gerry Connolly and Republican environmental lawyer Gary Baise has taken a dark turn after Baise relied on a certain mystery-cloaked tome for much of his transportation plan.Weigel quotes Howard Mortman:
Connolly also criticized Baise for relying on "The Road More Traveled," a book he described as a "right-wing screed" against mass transit, as the basis for some of his transportation positions. The book, written by two scholars of the Reason Foundation, a nonprofit group dedicated to free markets and limited government, emphasizes adding lanes to existing roads, eliminating parking subsidies and increasing the efficiency of traffic signals to check congestion.The book by Ted Balaker and Samuel Staley contradicts a lot of conventional wisdom about traffic congestion, for example:
Many say we can't build our way out of congestion, but we haven't even tried. Over the last 30 years, vehicle lane miles traveled have increased by over 143 percent, but we've added just 5 percent in new capacity. If we removed all of the pork and light rail projects from existing transportation plans and instead built roads and added lanes where they are most needed, we could eliminate severe congestion for less than we are currently planning to spend on transportation over the next few decades.The ideas in Balaker and Staley's "right-wing screed" were the inspiration for this video, starring Drew Carey:
-- Robert Stacy McCain, assistant national editor, The Washington Times
Comments (1)
With an aging population and a huge number of newly disabled veterans, we also still need to step up public transportation. And we do need more road space--and have for many years. I think both "sides" are partially correct.
Posted by Jane Weaver | October 24, 2007 7:32 AM