Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0400.141 2002-2004September 15, 2004 RE: BILL 178 — Clifto's Kona Coast LLC Dear Members of the County Council, I support Mayor Kim's VETO of the Clifto's project in O'oma, North Kona. However, I don't support concurrency if it means more car -oriented planning and if it means that you will continue to approve more sprawling development. Those of you, (including past West Hawaii council members like Am Rath, ]ohn Ray and Keola Childs) who voted FOR development along Queen Kaahumanu Highway without forcing developers to build homes nearby for their workers, are all responsible for causing West Hawaii to become a sprawling mess. You are the ones who, by way of approving your sprawl -related developments, have given us the congestion that we are faced with today. According to the first of two articles from the Surface Transportation Policy Project (STPP), which I Included with my testimony, studies indicate that sprawl Is a primary cause of congestion. Sprawling development patterns such as what we are seeing here In West Hawaii are causing people to drive further and to drive more often. According to the second article from STPP, building new and wider roads has little long-term Impact on road congestion. In fact, studies indicate that new and wider roads actually generate more traffic. This phenomenon, known as "induced travel" occurs when drivers flock to the new facility hoping to save time and people who would otherwise avoid congested conditions or take alternative modes to their destinations are likewise drawn to the new roadway. In the long run, the new roadway encourages new development nearby which leads to more traffic. So building more roads in order to keep up with your sprawl -related development approvals Is not going to correct West Hawaii's congestion problems. It will just make things uglier and soon well be looking like Honolulu. If you folks sincerely want to correct the wrongs that you have done to West Hawaii, you need to support the Mayor's VETO, stop approving any sprawl - related development that will lead to congestion and move away from car - oriented planning and towards a more equitable transportation system. Mahalo, 7osephine L Keliipio 76-168 Royal Poinciana Drive Kailua-Kona, HI 96740 Comm. No. q 00. 1441 Ref. To: PraMrrdrai I Ref. Date, CFP 15 0 • • 11/1/1999 Why are the Roads so Congested? Sprawl as a Primary Cause of Congestion Back to Table of Contents Sprawl as a Primary Cause of Congestion factors Contributing to the Growth in Driving The Texas �icreasc in Ta�cE'i3 Transportation Trips Ta Institute's data Increase in indicates that the Trip Lengths almost 70% increase 35c:� in driving in the last 16 years is a primary Decrease cause of congestion. in vehicle The factors that Occupancy` contribute the most to 17% that increase are at least partially related to sprawling switch to development Drivingincrease in patterns. According to 17% Population the figure (right) 13% published in a U.S. Department of Transportation study, Source: Travel Behavior Issues in the 90's. U.S. Department of as much as 69% of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration. Washington, DC, July 1992: the growth in driving p• 14. between 1983 and 1990 was caused by factors influenced by sprawl. These factors include the same people driving farther, as well as a decrease in carpooling and a switch from biking, walking, or transit to driving. These changes are in part necessitated by the spread of subdivisions and office parks isolated from stores and schools. Residents are often left with no real alternative to driving. One of the unintended consequences of this growth pattern has been a steadily growing number of vehicle trips that has served to clog local streets and freeways with traffic and increasingly frustrate residents and workers. At the same time, the chart shows that population growth accounted for only 13% of the growth in driving. STPP conducted a rigorous analysis' of more recent data (1992-1997) to examine the relationships between the growth in driving and other factors measured by TTI. STPP analyzed the growth of vehicle miles traveled (VMT) versus the growth of population, growth in the size of the urbanized area, increase in the number of highway lane miles, and initial density of the urban areae. This analysis demonstrates how the spreading out of the metropolitan area has contributed to an increase in driving. TTI's data reveals that every 10% growth in the size of an urbanized area generally has resulted in a 2.5% increase in miles driven, over and above the increase in driving that comes from population growth or other factors. The influence of additional road capacity, another outgrowth of sprawl, is discussed later in this paper. This analysis indicates that our current traffic congestion problems are not an inevitable result of the normal, healthy growth of our metro areas. These problems are more closely linked to the sprawling development patterns that require so much driving. 11/1/1999 Why are the Roads so Congested? Road Building has Little Effect on Congestion Back to Table of Contents Road Building Has Little Effect on Congestion Our analysis of TTI's data shows that building new and wider roads has had little long-term impact on road congestion, and that such roads appear to actually generate additional traffic. In order to control for population growth, we looked at the amount of highway space per resident each metro area has added since 1982. We split the 68 metro areas included in TTI's study into three groups and compared the congestion rates for the high and low group. The high road -building areas increased road capacity per person by 28%, while the low -road building areas actually decreased road capacity per person by 11 %. Despite this wide discrepancy, the rush-hour congestion profiles as measured by the Travel Rate Index for each group are almost identical. Interestingly, the high road building areas show slightly higher congestion levels than the low road -building areas throughout the period. One explanation for this outcome is that new and wider roads tend to generate new traffic. This phenomenon, known as 'induced travel', occurs when road capacity is expanded and drivers flock to the new facility hoping to save time. The new roadways also tend to draw people who would otherwise avoid congested conditions or take alternative modes to their destinations. In the long run, this encourages additional development nearby, and that leads to even more traffic. Our rigorous analysis of TTI's data' confirms this relationship. In the metro areas studied, a 10% increase in the size of the highway network has been associated with a 5.3% increase in the amount of driving. In other words, half of the new highway capacity has been filled with driving that would not have occurred if the road space had not been added. This is consistent with previous research on induced travel, including an FHWA sponsored study which found that when additional road capacity provides a 10% improvement in travel time, driving increases by 5%Z. 1.10 1pl�� 10 -- Pd[I v 1A0 I s r g.so t g.a9 v ICE 0.20 I-a•-Hgh Road BuidwV �- Low Road Building 0.00 - 1. See *Sprawl as a Primary Cause of Congestion' for a full description 2. Patrick DeCoda-Souza and Henry Cohen. Acwuntino for Induced Travel in Evaluation of Urban Highway Expansion. Washington, DC: FHWA, 1997. Back to Table of Contents The Surface Transportation Policy Project is a nationwide network of more than 800 organizations, including planners, community development organizations, and advocacy groups, devoted to improving the nation's transportation system.