|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
That’s according to Michael Ennis, director of the Center for Transportation
Policy at the Seattle-based Washington Policy Center
think-tank.
His remarks were part of the “Five Principles of
Responsible Transportation Policy,” which he
presented at the National Federation of Independent Business’s annual
Small Business Day at the Capitol on Feb. 3.
He said the top priority for transportation
planners and lawmakers should be alleviating traffic congestion, rather
than providing alternatives to it. He said the car is not the enemy;
rather, it’s a planning system that doesn’t give motorists what they want,
when they want it, or where they want it.
“To blame the public (for congestion) is
like the airline trying to blame you for buying a ticket on an
over-booked,” flight he said, going on to characterize U.S. transportation
policy as: “Build it and they will come.”
“Transportation resources should be built
based on demand,” he said. “People should have the freedom to choose where
they live and work.”
State Sen. Elliot Werk, D-Boise, a
member of the Senate Transportation Committee, said while Ennis’ talk
rightly called for all sides to come together, he disagreed with several
points, including that market demand should drive planning and policy
should revolve around reducing congestion.
“What I thought I heard was one
extreme end of the spectrum, and the extremes don’t serve the state of
Idaho when it comes to devising public policy and serving the needs of all
its citizens,” Werk said. “Under his scenario, if all you ever do is add
lanes to highways and roads, there isn’t any answer there.”
In his presentation, however, Ennis said
focusing on congestion and letting demand tell planners where it needs to
be alleviated frees up the flow of goods to market from which all else
will follow – including a more efficient funding process.
“Project funding is based on legislators
with the most influence,” he said. “The authority should rest with
legislatures and the governor; however, the decisions shouldn’t be based
on influence but performance.”
Performance standards are something that
state officials have heard a lot about since an audit of the Idaho
Transportation Department last month pointed out a lack of centralized
planning and evaluation.
Werk said the audit was “excellent”
and provided a lot of good suggestions for improvement, and doubted
whether Ennis’ demand-driven policy standpoint would do any
better.
“I don’t agree with his fundamental
premise, first of all,” Werk added. “As holders of the purse strings we
can demand whatever performance standards we desire. The reality is that
if everything is demand-driven you’re always playing from behind.
…
“As leaders who are looking at
developing good public policy, we need to be looking out 10, 20, 50
years,” he added. “If you don’t, then what you’re doing is you’re simply
being irresponsible, and you’ll increase your costs by 10, 15, 100 fold
later on.”
|
