Puget Sound traffic nightmare is by design, not just from low gas prices

Kirkland-based research group INRIX says as gas prices fall, traffic gets worse in the Seattle metro area.

You don’t say?

According to a report from KING 5:

The latest data shows in September and November, a $0.05 decrease in the gas price year-over-year corresponds to around 10% increase in traffic congestion. In October, a $0.20 drop meant a 30% bump in traffic.

INRIX says there are likely other factors in play, but that there is a direct correlation between the two, as drivers take more discretionary trips due to less impact to their wallets when they fill up at the pump.

The data is simplistic and lacks context of the traffic situation. And while it should be seen as harmless, undoubtedly, these data points will be used by anti-car activists as propaganda to continue to lobby accommodating city leaders, to push policies and infrastructure changes to force people onto bikes, buses and feet.

The truth remains that regardless of this data, traffic was bad before the gas price decreases and will remain bad after the decreases head back up.

Why? Because of bad planning by state and city ideological leaders who despise cars and try to force every other mode of transportation. They rip up streets for bike lanes a few people use (when it’s not raining out). They rip up roads for light rail and trolleys no one uses. You’ve even got activists who want monorails and gondolas at the expense of car lanes.

If you keep getting rid of the lanes and neglect infrastructure for drivers, what do you think will happen to traffic?

Gas could be $5 a gallon and you’ll still get traffic because 167 isn’t complete or because of slowdowns on 405 on the Eastside, because leaders refused to make infrastructure updates in a reasonable time frame. Keep working at a snail’s pace on the Mercer Mess, that commute traffic impacts anyone on or around I-5.

This is how some activist leaders want it to be. They assume you’ll get sick of the two-hour commutes from Everett to Seattle on I-5, or the Renton to Bellevue commute on 405 which can run an hour, even though it’s just 11 miles, and you’ll end up taking Metro or another means of transportation, even though that just isn’t an option for many of us.

This traffic nightmare is all by design (and incompetence) and won’t change until we have leaders who treat all modes of transportation fairly, not just push modes that match their ideological agendas.