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- But the U.S. General Accounting Office predicts that even if this country's road capacity increases by 20 percent over the next fifteen years - a very unrealistic goal - congestion will triple. - All told, the U.S. subsidizes roads and cars by more than $300 billion per year, and our dependence on them is increasing. While the U.S. population increased by about 40 percent between 1960 and 1990, the number of licensed drivers nearly doubled, the number of vehicles did double, fuel consumption more than doubled, and the number of miles driven almost tripled. Over the same period, the proportion of U.S. citizens who commuted by car went from about 70 percent to 87 percent; the percentage of people commuting by public transit dropped by well more than half; and those walking to work decreased from 10 to 4 percent. In the 1960s, 60 percent of children walked or rode their bikes to school. Now it's down to 10 percent. All of this adds up to more traffic jams. The way to measure road congestion is by figuring the percentage of roads near or at capacity during rush hour. Between 1975 and 1993, that number went from about 40 percent to 70 percent. The average vehicle speed for cross-town traffic in New York City is less than six miles per hour - slower than it was in the days of horse-drawn buggies. - In American cities, close to half of all urban space goes to accommodate the automobile, leaving more land devoted to cars than to housing. Nearly 100,000 people a year are displaced in the U.S. by new highway construction. Sources: Michael Renner, Worldwatch Paper #84 (1988); Jeremy Rifkin, Entropy: Into the Greenhouse World (Bantam, 1989). Reproduced in Getting There: Strategic Facts for the Transportation Advocate (Advocacy Institute, 1996) - In Seattle, 7 sq. miles of land area (8%) is dedicated to car parking (not including streets) - more than is dedicated to parks. Getting There: Strategic Facts for the Transportation Advocate - up-to-date facts on transportation problems, and solutions. Available from the Gas Guzzler Campaign, (202) 659-8475, kconnors@advocacy.org - The Going Rate: What it Really Costs to Drive. (World Resources Institute, 1992) MacKenzie, James
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