Congestion Awareness

Hi,

I just joined this blog site to speak about traffic congestion and transportation issues. As a retired planner from
Caltrans and having worked with many agencies and local communities, it is distressing that congestion is still
one of major, unsolved problems in urban planning. There are many reasons for congestion, such as inadequate transit services, personal preferences to drive, urban sprawl and poor planning in where we locate homes and work sites. I don't think there is a single solution.

However, energy consumption and climate change have to be a part of the dialogue. More investments in public transit must also be in the mix. Adopting technology from the internet and wireless devices might also be used. And we should include more community involvement in our planning processes, particularly from those underserved communities who often bear the burden of noise, pollution and hazards from this congestion. I would be interested in hearing what others think about this broad topic. Thank you.