Intelligent Transportation System

A coworker mentioned how there are no HOV lanes on I-5 in California. Is that true? It certainly is in Sacramento. He mentioned how Caltrans and the Federal government are at odds with one another and thus the Feds don't match funds, so California forgoes building.

An I-5 HOV lane would work great for me as a SACTOWN bus commuter, I'd arrive downtown often times much earlier. But on a bus I really don't care too much, I always bring something to think about...I can afford some congestion.

Our American Recovery and Investment Act (wa-hey!), I sarcastically chided earlier, is code-speak for "build new roads." And wouldn't you know it, Elk Grove is primed to spend $7.6 million of that to...build new roads! Well, let me clarify.

The lion's share of that will be to buy eight new e-tran buses. Awesome. It's too bad that they are mostly under utilized, due to our city's low density layout, but the commuter buses into Sacramento are quite full, and they've remained full since the Spike of Ought Eight. That's pretty nice in my opinion, lots of fresh faces on the buses. People who discovered this last summer are regulars now, so my level of service might remain steady, contrary to my prediction for Ought Nine.

Now for the road building. $500,000 to move the Elk Grove on-ramp HOV lane to the leftmost lane from the rightmost. $1,000,000 to link fiber optic networks with traffic comm equipment with computers to try to better control traffic through signals. And $2,483,000 to rehab roads (asphalt concrete overlays and slurry seals).

So let's spend stimulus money to build an Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) overlaid on top of a Fucked Up Urban Layout System. That's quite intelligent. Find ways to ensure present and future car dependency for each one of our city's inhabitants. Find ways to efficiently move volume while shuttering alternative ways to move people. Find ways to make Laguna Blvd. a more efficient conduit for motorized vehicles while ensuring no pedestrian in their right mind would ever want to be crossing that intersection.



Not a single dollar will be spent to build a better city.