Oregon is doing this and it doesn’t fucking work. You can’t “reduce demand” for something that is a requirement to exist in our society. This is like “reducing demand” in emergency rooms by increasing wait times to 36 hours. Congratulations people aren’t visiting the ER anymore because they’re all dead in the parking lot.
This is the type of shit some 2.0 GPA MBA graduate comes up with because “it makes sense on paper based on our (flawed) data and logic.”
Like what percentage of people do you think just drive around in city traffic “for fun?” Those are the only people that might stop driving so often when you intentionally create traffic jams to reduce demand. All the people trying to get to work, to the store, or to pick their kid up from school are still going to need to be on the road because there is no alternative.
The traffic calming in Eugene, Oregon, has already reduced the number of annual traffic fatalities from 22 to 10. I don’t know what you can call this other than a resounding success.
Like many communities across the country, Eugene saw a major rise in fatal traffic crashes during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2025 decrease matches a larger national trend as well, with a nearly 7% decrease nationwide, 10% decrease in the State of Oregon, and a 32% decrease in Portland.
I’d call it being in line with a reduction in fatalities everywhere now that driving habits are back to normal after COVID drastically changed the landscape for years.
In any case, thats not what I was referring to. I was referring to the Governors proposed plan of installing tolls on all the freeways in the metro region to not only charge poorer drivers up to $20 a day to get to work, but to also increase congestion so that people are disincentivized from driving, which is completely unrealistic nonsense.
I have no problem with changing road designs in neighborhoods to slow people down but this plan is bullshit. Pedestrians aren’t even allowed on freeways and just as a bigger joke, freeway speeds are now lower (55MPH-65MPH) than what you’re allowed to drive on rural Oregon highways (70MPH) despite those rural highways having houses, bikers, and pedestrians and no division between you and oncoming traffic.
Oregon is doing this and it doesn’t fucking work. You can’t “reduce demand” for something that is a requirement to exist in our society. This is like “reducing demand” in emergency rooms by increasing wait times to 36 hours. Congratulations people aren’t visiting the ER anymore because they’re all dead in the parking lot.
This is the type of shit some 2.0 GPA MBA graduate comes up with because “it makes sense on paper based on our (flawed) data and logic.”
Like what percentage of people do you think just drive around in city traffic “for fun?” Those are the only people that might stop driving so often when you intentionally create traffic jams to reduce demand. All the people trying to get to work, to the store, or to pick their kid up from school are still going to need to be on the road because there is no alternative.
The traffic calming in Eugene, Oregon, has already reduced the number of annual traffic fatalities from 22 to 10. I don’t know what you can call this other than a resounding success.
I’d call it being in line with a reduction in fatalities everywhere now that driving habits are back to normal after COVID drastically changed the landscape for years.
https://kval.com/news/local/eugene-traffic-deaths-fall-to-10-in-2025-down-55-from-record-22-in-2024-lane-county-oregon
In any case, thats not what I was referring to. I was referring to the Governors proposed plan of installing tolls on all the freeways in the metro region to not only charge poorer drivers up to $20 a day to get to work, but to also increase congestion so that people are disincentivized from driving, which is completely unrealistic nonsense.
I have no problem with changing road designs in neighborhoods to slow people down but this plan is bullshit. Pedestrians aren’t even allowed on freeways and just as a bigger joke, freeway speeds are now lower (55MPH-65MPH) than what you’re allowed to drive on rural Oregon highways (70MPH) despite those rural highways having houses, bikers, and pedestrians and no division between you and oncoming traffic.