Stage Eight: Comment on a colleague’s work #2
In Ms. Ileana Krau’s editorial “Delayed in Austin”, Kraus maintains that the City of Austin waited too long for a change that should have been dealt with years ago. She is talking about the subject of traffic in Austin and she believes that it will not change anytime soon. In response to her opinion, I would have to agree with what she says.
Statistical facts Kraus mentions include:
-Austin as third ranked of worse traffic in the United States
-Dallas, San Antonio, and Houston follow close behind Austin.
-Corpus Christi and El Paso also topped it off on the list of Top 14 Cities of worse traffic
Ms. Kraus points out that Austin is smaller than LA and Washington but because of city growth and expansion within the past decade and a half, the problem is getting worse.
The truth is Ms. Kraus is right, Austin is definitely on the list of fastest growing cities in the United States.
What I found rather interesting was that she said, “It is expanding faster than the network of travel is expanding.” She proceeds to elaborate on various ways for people to find a way out of traffic.
Although I-35 is now extended to four lanes southbound (downtown) and northbound, traffic is still great. Kraus recommends a possibility to extend I-35 below ground. I thought about this for a second before reading on, and found myself in agreeing completely with what she had to say next.
Though this idea is a good one, it may actually be counterproductive because the project no doubt will take at least a good couple of years to complete. It’s not a wise choice and would actually worsen traffic. Kraus then explores the possibility of a train system in Austin. She reasons that a train system would not function well as it does in New York or London because the area that needs to be covered is much bigger and thus requiring more stops.
“The system of busses would have to be adjusted to train or subway stops, so that the two systems could work well together,” says Kraus. Just last winter 2012, I took a vacation and spent about two weeks in Washington state. I observed many things very foreign to a Texan such as myself. I loved just how well the train station and bus systems worked hand in hand together. To me, this seemed totally out of my universe. I had never seen buses share some tunnels with trains, it appeared to me almost like a cultural shock.
The problem is finding the area to place the track in which people would have to agree to give up their land for the city’s use. Not many Austinites would be willing to give up their land to contribute to something bigger than themselves. So another possibility Kraus brings up is car-free zone downtown.
The problem is finding the area to place the track in which people would have to agree to give up their land for the city’s use. Not many Austinites would be willing to give up their land to contribute to something bigger than themselves. So another possibility Kraus brings up is car-free zone downtown.
The idea of people commuting on trains is not bad. I think it would save many people gas money since they would have to only drive their cars to a train state or park pretty close to downtown. The concerns I have with this is lack of familiarity. For one, Austin inhabitants are new to the concept of commuting via train in which punctuality and time may ultimately be affected. Not citizens of Austin are familiar with traveling on a train, although public transportation such as bus is increasingly becoming a necessity especially for university students.
This being said, proliferation of parked cars near downtown would force the city of Austin to have to create more parking spaces. To sum it up, Kraus has given a number of possible changes Austin could implement, however all of these possibilities would take time to implement. She has given this some good thought into pros and cons of the situation.
In the end, she concludes that, "All these are only ideas that should have been considered when the city started growing rapidly. But nobody seemed to have made a real plan. One thing is clear: the traffic situation in Austin won't change any time soon. They waited way to long for a change to happen." It's a harsh reality, but I think she proves her point, and I totally agree with her opinions.
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