Not So Fast - Better Speed Valuation for Transportation Planning

It increases the destinations that affected travellers can access in a given time period, and therefore their economic and social opportunities, but inevitably increases many costs to users and communities, and often harms people who cannot use the faster mode, such as when wider roads and increased traffic speeds degrade walking and bicycling conditions, or if automobile-oriented planning stimula. [...] Automobile Dependency and Sprawl Speed-prioritized planning tends to increase automobile dependency and sprawl in the following ways (Brinkman and Lin 2019; Ewing and Hamidi 2017; Shill 2020): Roadway expansions and higher traffic speeds degrade walking and bicycling conditions and make urban areas less attractive relative to sprawled locations. [...] It seldom analyzes the allocation of public resources between drivers and non-drivers, and ignores the external costs that vehicle travel imposes on other people, and the harms that automobile dependency and sprawl impose on physically, economically and socially disadvantaged groups. [...] Economic development and Often exaggerates the benefits and overlooks the costs of speed, and opportunity underestimates the economic benefits provided by slower modes. [...] Improving slower modes (walking, bicycling and public transit) and reducing traffic speeds improves non-drivers’ access, and by improving affordable and resource-efficient mobility and reducing total vehicle travel, these help achieve a wide range of goals.