Last month, the Department of Transportation published a strategic five-year plan that illustrates all the reasons why government should not plan. Rather than attempt to provide the transportation services that Americans need and want, the plan aims to “transform” — i.e., socially engineer — America. Rather than focus on processes that will insure that tax dollars are effectively spent, the plan predetermines the modes of transportation that ought to be funded based on touchy-feely criteria.
Obviously written by smart-growth apostles, the plan includes all of the twisted facts and junk science so beloved of today’s urban planners. For example, page 14 says, “Over the last decade, transit ridership has grown over 20 percent, far outpacing growth in automobile travel.” In fact, urban automobile passenger miles have grown by 24 percent in the last decade (1998 to 2008), while transit passenger miles grew by only 22 percent. By comparing transit ridership with total (instead of just urban) auto travel, the plan’s writers are comparing apples with oranges.
