Interesting article about a WMATA study on what people would do without public transit. From the data that they gathered, they showed that the loss of the metro and rail systems would’ve lead to a more “local economy.” According to the study, if people were left to depend on cars and the road infrastructure, they become dissuaded from traveling too far to avoid traffic and congestion, and instead stay closer to home for convenience.
It brings quite an interesting point about public transit and is a strong arguement for how vital it is to our existing regional developments. However, by contrast, it can be argued (which someone probably already has) that public transit contributes to sprawl by increasing the capacity to travel great distances between work and home. Nevertheless, models such as these are a great way to analyze our current situation and demonstrate how crucial our infrastructure is.
Via: The Atlantic
