To all going to the Arkansas game...

[Houston Techsan]

In places designed and built exclusively for automobiles, it usually is.

Normally places have grown up and automobiles were designed for the places. I have no idea where your Dogtown is but I would bet you would have a hard time going anywhere without a car. Bicycles are good for about a mile and walking for about half that if you don't want to take forever. And forget both when it's raining. Generally public transportation doesn't go where we want to go but where the bureaucrats want us to go and when they want us to go. They haven't figured that out yet. Actually raining applies to public transportation, too. Here in Houston they have shelters in the outlying areas but where you have to make transfers (downtown) they're non existent.

[Champ967]

Normally places have grown up and automobiles were designed for the places. I have no idea where your Dogtown is but I would bet you would have a hard time going anywhere without a car. Bicycles are good for about a mile and walking for about half that if you don't want to take forever. And forget both when it's raining. Generally public transportation doesn't go where we want to go but where the bureaucrats want us to go and when they want us to go. They haven't figured that out yet. Actually raining applies to public transportation, too. Here in Houston they have shelters in the outlying areas but where you have to make transfers (downtown) they're non existent.

Dogtown was historically a pejorative for North Little Rock. If you live in the parts of town that predate WWII, you really don't need an automobile. That's the case not just in LR/NLR, but in most cities.

Public transportation is a self-fulfilling vicious cycle. Cities and states intentionally under-fund their transit programs, and then transit authorities are forced to make deep cuts in service and facilities until the service and facilities suck. When the service and facilities suck, ridership drops until all but the poorest residents (who cant afford cars) use the service. And then the public officials point to low ridership as justification for additional cuts. Moreover, the public transit gets unfairly painted as a subsidy for only the poor.

The exact inverse cycle happens with automobile infrastructure. Public officials (often upper-middle class automobile owners) invest in roads because it's what they use. As roads increase, get widened, stay maintained, more people use them. It's a phenomenon called 'induced demand'. As roads are used more and more heavily, the political demand for more and wider roads increases, and public officials devote more resources to roads and highways.

The long-term effect is that car-ownership becomes a de-facto pre-requisite to participating in the workforce, and automobile infrastructure becomes a massive entitlement program for car owners. Probably the nation's single biggest govt handout. And that doesn't even touch on its effects on public health (eg. air quality, obesity, etc)

To be fair, I like cars and use one everyday. I also think our highway system, insofar as it carries traffic between metro areas, is great. My criticism -- to come back to the original post on the subject -- is that places built exclusively for cars, at the expense of all other transportation options, quickly become traffic-choked concrete wastelands, where car owners get all they want and still demand more, and non-car-owners can go suck an egg.

[Mogu1993]

Dogtown was historically a pejorative for North Little Rock. If you live in the parts of town that predate WWII, you really don't need an automobile. That's the case not just in LR/NLR, but in most cities.

Public transportation is a self-fulfilling vicious cycle. Cities and states intentionally under-fund their transit programs, and then transit authorities are forced to make deep cuts in service and facilities until the service and facilities suck. When the service and facilities suck, ridership drops until all but the poorest residents (who cant afford cars) use the service. And then the public officials point to low ridership as justification for additional cuts. Moreover, the public transit gets unfairly painted as a subsidy for only the poor.

The exact inverse cycle happens with automobile infrastructure. Public officials (often upper-middle class automobile owners) invest in roads because it's what they use. As roads increase, get widened, stay maintained, more people use them. It's a phenomenon called 'induced demand'. As roads are used more and more heavily, the political demand for more and wider roads increases, and public officials devote more resources to roads and highways.

The long-term effect is that car-ownership becomes a de-facto pre-requisite to participating in the workforce, and automobile infrastructure becomes a massive entitlement program for car owners. Probably the nation's single biggest govt handout. And that doesn't even touch on its effects on public health (eg. air quality, obesity, etc)

To be fair, I like cars and use one everyday. I also think our highway system, insofar as it carries traffic between metro areas, is great. My criticism -- to come back to the original post on the subject -- is that places built exclusively for cars, at the expense of all other transportation options, quickly become traffic-choked concrete wastelands, where car owners get all they want and still demand more, and non-car-owners can go suck an egg.

I don't think that is the reason fayetteville has bad traffic. As a civil engineer myself, I think it stems from the lack of the ability of the road construction to keep up with the growth rate. Especially considering the area has grown from 300k to 550k in a little over a decade. I can see where baton rouge suffers from that, though.

[Champ967]

I don't think that is the reason fayetteville has bad traffic. As a civil engineer myself, I think it stems from the lack of the ability of the road construction to keep up with the growth rate. Especially considering the area has grown from 300k to 550k in a little over a decade. I can see where baton rouge suffers from that, though.

I'd submit to you that it's only been able to grow at the rate it has precisely because of the existing auto infrastructure. Not in spite of it.

[Houston Techsan]

Take a look at Austin, TX, which has refused to acknowledge that cars exist. They have two freeways that go to downtown, both going north and south - IH35 and MOPAC. To get west of Austin on US 290 you have to get on IH35 by downtown. The going joke is "when does rush hour begin on Friday? Answer - Thurdsay. Avoid Austin at all costs even if your are passing through. They do have a new toll road that goes on the east side all the way down to Seguin on IH10. They tell you it goes to San Antonio, but Seguin is about 20-30 miles east of San Antonio.

[HogDawg]

They do have a new toll road that goes on the east side all the way down to Seguin on IH10. They tell you it goes to San Antonio, but Seguin is about 20-30 miles east of San Antonio.

Yep, and the official speed limit on that toll road is 80 MPH. Love that part.

[ChuckK3]

Yep, and the official speed limit on that toll road is 80 MPH. Love that part.

Me too. I usually hop off at Niederwald to get to San Marcos.

But yeah, Austin is a PRIME example of a city that grew way too fast for its infrastructure.

[PawDawg]

In places designed and built exclusively for automobiles, it usually is.

Profound AND correct...classic Champ967

[Houston Techsan]

Yep, and the official speed limit on that toll road is 80 MPH. Love that part.

I was going to mention that part. Our brethern in Louisiana still have 55 mph on non freeways while here in Texas I have seen 75 mph on two lane roads.

[olddog75]

Yep, and the official speed limit on that toll road is 80 MPH. Love that part.

Hogdawg, keep in the right lane, as past Mustang Ridge the speed limit goes to 85 mph. That's the highest highest posted limit in the USA. My old Tahoe was shaking when I hit 90.

[Dawgpix]

I've taken to calling it "Benfaygersdale Springs"

I've also some natives refer to the area as "the NWA".

Isn't their airport designation...NWA?

In 1950, Sam Walton purchased a store from Luther E. Harrison in Bentonville, Arkansas, and opened Walton's 5 & 10.[1] Thus, the Ozark Mountain town of 2,900 residents would become the headquarters for the world's largest retailer.

image.jpeg

[DQDawg]

Dawgpix, you done done it again!!! Great picture of the "start" of Sam and Ole Roy.

[JAMROB]

[HogDawg]

Hogdawg, keep in the right lane, as past Mustang Ridge the speed limit goes to 85 mph. That's the highest highest posted limit in the USA. My old Tahoe was shaking when I hit 90.

LOL! I didn't realize that. WOW!

[HogDawg]

I was going to mention that part. Our brethern in Louisiana still have 55 mph on non freeways while here in Texas I have seen 75 mph on two lane roads.

I know. It seems like it takes me longer to drive the 16 miles from Homer to Minden than it does the 60 miles from Austin to San Antonio.