How Atlanta is Tackling its Traffic Crisis
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- čas přidán 6. 09. 2024
- Upgrading a massive junction, next to the world's busiest airport, in a major city and all while keeping the traffic moving. This team's journey holds lessons for infrastructure projects across America. The Walsh Group's team is collaborating with Bluebeam Revu - bit.ly/36iC6Zz
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Wednesday is construction day from now on :))))
YES!!! ✊✊✊
@@TheB1M I Love this video! I Love you, Athlanta!
@Nathaniel Sabet drr
@Nathaniel Sabet zk
mg9
Go USA !!.. Viva : Georgia!!.. en Atlanta !!..
Q: “How Atlanta is tackling it’s traffic crisis?”
A: it’s not
Thank you for coming to my TED Talk🤗
Standing ovation.
No Cap 🤣💯
The problem will never go away as long as the USA remains carcentric.
Absolutely. And the dependence on cars is perpetuated by the design and layout of many US cities.
Its hard to go from cul-de-sac + highways design to a better layout. The problem is that cities sprawl to much so its hard to use bikes and more expensive to use public transport. Paris has a density of 20,000/km2 while Atlana has 1,400/km2. The difference is astonishing.
The big problem is the suburban sprawl all major US cities have. Together with absurd zoning laws the only feasible method of transportation is the car.
@@collan580 True, but it's also unrealistic to expect the entireity of the US to become accessible by public transport, walking or cycling. A more realistic goal is to make sure that all suburban areas at least have decent public transport (suburbs are too spread-out to make walking or cycling feasible, but you can put a bus line through), and all downtown areas sacrifice enough of their roads to bus/tram lanes, cycle lanes and sidewalks that car use becomes less attractive, and the other options moreso.
That said, if you were a government in charge of making these decisions, doing the above should only come áfter outright banning R1 zoning for new developments, and relaxing restrictions on existing R1 zoned areas. No point in fixing things if you allow the underlying problem to keep going.
@@rjfaber1991 although the suburban sprawl is a big issue, perhaps having train stations in these larger neighbourhoods could incentivise some people to cycle to the station and take the train to work. Given the massive size of some of these highways, it would make sense to substitute these long commutes with train lines - where people can instead travel to more local stations and would therefore give them the option to walk/cycle.
"Oh cool what alternative modes of transportation is Atlanta trying to fix its traffic?"
...
"Oh :("
I live 2 hours from Atlanta,I used to go there for shopping and entertainment.I don't go there anymore because of traffic.It's a shame.
We live in Warner Robins and feel the same way.
Seems like it can 2 hours to any where in Atlanta.
I live in the Metro Area and the only way I go into the city now is with MARTA because driving is insane
US federal government: we’ll match 80% to 90% of highways for you.
Cities: we want rail too
US: here have $2, you’re on your own.
Cities: never mind we’ll take the money.
As a citizen of Atlanta. The department of transportation is idiotic and so are the voters. We need to expand Marta. People are pushing back on expanding Marta because they don’t want downtown to be connected to their town and it is unsafe, which is totally understandable. So why the hell isn’t Marta making their experience cleaner and safer? So many crazy people and homeless people in the subway and it’s dirty and smells like piss. Clean ur stuff and make it safe and maybe more people will use Marta, doesn’t take a genius to think of that one. Also people need to realize that adding more lanes to the highway does not improve traffic. It creates more. It’s absolutely idiotic how we have stoplights at the end of highway exits that block traffic for miles out onto the highway itself. You’ll see miles of cars on the highway lined up not moving to even get on an exit. All stuck on a red light. We also need a better driving education and test in Georgia. A monkey could get a driver’s license. We need to stop emphasizing on drinking and driving for the majority of the course and emphasize stuff like the left lane is used for faster traffic/passing and to move the hell over to the right if you see someone going faster then you. We need to teach people to stop cutting people off and almost side swiping people. We need to teach others to let people over instead of driving like a dick. None of that is taught in Georgia let alone the south east. Building bigger roads is absolutely not the solution. It causes a bigger problem and is a waste of tax money. Anyone can have less traffic with good city planning, good subway access, and great support for driving education. Something Atlanta lacks in all directions.
I so often here people talk about how they want the freedom to drive. But what about the freedom to not to have to drive?
The capitalist scam - convincing people they need 4000lb car to move 10 pounds of food.
Too bad for them. Move to NYC
Folks also complain about subsidizing public transport but don't consider the cost of subsidizing roads
@@zabba7461 so true. So called conservatives and libertarian types talk this way.
"I shouldn't have to subsidize what I don't use!" 🙄
First of all, that's selfish and secondly, public transportation is not a handout. It's a means of allowing people to help themselves....kinda like giving a fishing pole instead of fish.
Why is this not something both liberals and conservatives can agree on?????
Nice angle on that question.
America in the 1920s: “we are investing in crucial infrastructure, have more public transportation in cities than any other county, and we run the most reliable and efficient trains on Earth”
America in the 2020s: *cries in car*
Thank the Republicans
@@NYLFR please tell me how it’s republicans when every major city that has a failing infrastructure is and has been ran by democrats for the past 80 years+. Your comment right there shows why the US is where it is, we have become so divided that when one party takes office they destroy everything that the other one made moves on. Maybe we should get (both sides) to stop giving billions to other countries when we have failing Infrastructure, people without access to running water/electric... etc🤷🏼♂️🤦🏼♂️
@@ThatColtGuy I agree 100% with your sentiment. That said, recent Republican politicians are rather... immature... and play favourites. I feel that forefathers would be rolling in their graves right now. Speaking only of recent actions (decade, etc.) - Obama's infrastructure spending bills were repeatedly blocked by the Republican senate on the grounds that he wanted to spend too much on infrastructure. After Trump got in, he favoured tax cuts to infrastructure spending. I suspect infrastructure has better odds under the new Biden presidency, but nothing is certain yet. For all we know it'll all go to healthcare/biotech/renewables. (Renewables are cheap enough per kwh now that even without government policy assistance, the huge investment groups are scooping projects up and moving in strongly. Brookfield, Blackstone, etc.; trillions in investor capital are starting to flow in this direction, because the returns are good. More and more dollars each year.)
Your observation about failing infrastructure in major cities is an interesting one, and quite correct - though that may be because left leaning capitalism (At least in the US - right leaning according to a European) leads to sustained economic growth and inflation, making everything in those major cities damn expensive, including repairing them. If you sort the price of real estate across the US and check which way the districts vote, it lines up. Big cities vote blue, rural areas vote red - 8 times out of 10.
I was surprised when I even saw pockets of blue in Texas last year - Dallas, Houston, San Antonio - the big cities.
www.politico.com/2020-election/results/texas/
@@BikeHelmetMk2 well yea, even the entire souther border (for the most part) was blue. Look at how fast big tech is leaving San fran for Austin, liberal taxation clearly doesn’t work. California is suffocating itself. Trump did try and come up with an infrastructure bill but he did it towards the end of his presidency rather then making it a priority. Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, and Houston are honestly very blue, but the infrastructure isn’t as bad thanks to our governor who continually cares about this state and businesses within it(big and small).
@@ThatColtGuy republicans can't build for shi
Highways are causing traffic, loss in productivity, pollution, and inconvenience.
The US: “let’s build them bigger”
What people don't understand is that the 50 year old highway needed to be rebuilt anyways due to age. So why not rebuild it better?
Uhm are you suggesting to get rid of highways?
@@christianpenchev2689 yes, more highways = more cars
@@haroldinho9930 It's not like you can just get rid of them wtf.
@@christianpenchev2689 You can. Not all of them but it's very possible. Highways are supposed to carry traffic between cities, not through cities. Removing Highways would necessitate development of alternative means of transport like commuter rail, traffic seperated public transit and cycling, but it can be done. Ultimately what's needed is a move away from the extreme car dependency of North America.
Basic rule: Never build more road, if you want to solve traffic congestion.
Aight ig we should just dirt one way roads. Lmaooo you guys are acting stupid
This is one of the most stupid rules I ever heard. Traffic was OK two to three decades ago, when we had lower population numbers. Cities failed to build new roads when their population increased significantly. Hence, traffic jams.
@@alexander5662 There isn't 1 alternative to solving traffic. If we implement and encourage public transportation and improve city zoning a bit too there will be less traffic. Looks like you're the one making yourself stupid here, cowboy.
@@m.3257 The US already has by far the biggest road network in the world, yet it still cant solve its traffic problems. Other countries, even some with far more people (like India and China) manage far, far better with smaller roads. Thats because public transport demands much less space and is much cheaper to build and maintain per passenger than roads are
@@doriannamjesnik3007 cowboy ? Why am I cowboy? Public transport is only effective in a city and some suburbs. Most however isn’t effective or efficient at all. There is no point to invest in stuff like am track now because when we did no one used it. Public transport isn’t popular in America simply because it isn’t efficient because of how big the us is. People cause the traffic almost all the times not the roads
American cities need to move towards high-speed trains and developing or spreading the network of Metro trains
that would be so cool! it would also be much faster, I hope my generation will take notice of these problems and fix them in the future
Purple Hermitcrab 1020 you noticing now is the change
The problem with this is land. To obtain the land in the cities would take billions before work even started.
The US fucked up 100 years ago when most cities west of philly got rid of public transit. Cars are better but they have scaling issues, because humans suck at driving for the most part.
Bicycling should be much more widespread.
The problem is public transit systems work best over relatively small areas. Here in the central plains, everything outside the most ubranised districts is just too spread out.
Building more and bigger roads has never been the solution. It will just attract more traffic.
But it will be able to handle more traffic
@@Marco-fc5uf more traffic in a jam
@@Marco-fc5uf but in the end that will increase congestion because more people will be driving
@@Marco-fc5uf the only way to reduce congestion is to provide alternative transport methods and make driving worse. Make roads slower, thinner and less convient while making biking and public transportation faster, larger and more convenient
If they didn’t neglect their train lines decades ago they could’ve been a huge help in alleviating the congestion on roads. If bigger roads was the solution, America would have some of the best infrastructure in the world but that’s not what we see. Simply having a train line going from one end of the greater city area to the other, connecting large industrial areas on the outskirts, would take away a lot of cars on the roads and may be beneficial for low income households who may struggle to afford to keep their car(s).
The interstates in Atlanta seem even bigger, each time I visit… they're comparable with Texas, and even make Phoenix and LA seem ho-hum. The rail system always seems to not quite go far enough, though. I hope that eventually changes.
Rail expansion has always been an issue, particularly in the more affluent northern suburbs. They're trying to keep poor disenfranchised people out of that side of town. Eventually it won't matter though. Unfortunately, the entire city is being gentrified.
I don't know how often you visit, but the freeways and interstates in Atlanta are puny throwbacks from the '60s compared to Dallas and Houston, and are not comparable to LA.
Well they are extending the red line north to Alpharetta….and thats it
Atlanta’s freeways are FAR inferior to Texas ones. Atlanta has an embarrassingly puny network for a city of its size. That’s why the traffic is so much worse.
@@ga_colossus Yep lived in Alpharetta, and we desperately needed and wanted transit. But not the single family homeowners which resulted in us being woefully underemployed in restaurants, hotels and service jobs because getting here is way too hard from the city center
If the US had invested in public transport over the past 6 decades this would be less of an issue.
Lol its useless.
They sold their trains to Ford and GM for some odd reason.
@@fuckheinschitt239 Public transport is not useless.
@@fuckheinschitt239how is it useless when it’s already been proven to work in many other countries? Are you in high school?
@@ramencurry6672 Even if you build public transportation like train you can't fix the traffic issue. Traffic is very normal to cities.
Better title idea: “How Atlanta is exasperating its traffic problem”
The tax incentives to increase suburbs throughout the US is showing in the unsustainable budgets our infrastructure require to keep them at a mediocre level of operation
follower of Not Just Bikes and Strong Towns?
@Pro Tengu I've never analyzed GA's budget and infrastructure costs so you could correct. The point I made (I'd imagine) impacts GA due to the ways that roads are paid for in the US in cities/ suburbs. Either way, I noted the US and not specifically GA so I am a bit lost on your point
@Pro Tengu Thanks for sharing your opinion with me about something objective. Have a great day
It wouldn’t be unsustainable if we spent more than 1% of our national budget on infrastructure.
@Pro Tengu ok boomer
You can clearly see how all these digital platforms are making construction that bit easier. What this video shows is the general lack of investment over the year in physical infrastructure in the US.
@Pro Tengu It has nothing to do with any of that. Americans have no congestion flow rules, and just do whatever on the road. The basic solution to enforce is to stay in the right lane when turning right. Americans do nothing of the sort and instead build bigger roads.... Update your road safety and congestion rules, Driving in the USA was a total nightmare as Dutchmen. Work smarter not harder.
@Pro Tengu Same answer my American friends gave me. Proud and typical. Instead, you can also do research and find out that other countries have it figured out. You are literally 1 rule and about 10 dollars away from fixing your problems. Or you be you! And spend your taxes on bad roads systems and be proud of your, unrelated, ''driving'' skills??? But let's be honest. We all know which one you are going to choose ;)
@Pro Tengu Not if you have any hand in it ;)
@Pro Tengu Your focus is again a very narrow and off point once again. Stereotypical American politics. Were we talking about economics and driving skills? Are we going to just paste on random points, evading topics to boast? Is that what we are doing? Sigh. As I said ''not if you have any hand in it.'' I must admit my tone is condescending but cmon man. Really?
What else? You have more land than we Dutch have? You have Yellowstone and we don't? You have a better army. You could squish our country if you wanted to. Oh, wait what were we talking about again. Oh yeah, ROAD EFFICIENCY. And you wonder why everyone is losing respect for you guys ;) But somehow I doubt that you really care for your own country enough to realize the long term effects of this.
The ONLY way to reduce traffic is to give people a viable alternative to driving everywhere.
No. As a Dutchmen I agree with alternative driving options but their biggest problem is the lack of road rules to adjust for traffic flow. Just enforce to hold right when turning right. Learn from other countries instead of making things worse >.< I swear, driving in the USA has left my brain crippled.
@@closerrl9851 Life tip: If you agree with someone's main point, start your comment with "Yes" or "Yes, ..., but..." , or just simply go straight to your point, but don't be one of those people that starts with "No" just for the sake of it, it makes you seem like a less agreeable person.
Americans can't even decide what bathroom to use. If noone has a job you don't need any traffic solutions.
@@insertchannelnamehere8685 That other person said “the only” so no is a reasonable response and does not dismiss anyone. This is why everyone hates Americans adn we are failing. bc people like you are just too damn sensitive.
@@MrGoodeats I'm not saying it isn't a reasonable response, or being sensitive, all I'm saying is that it isn't a good idea in an argument. Just going straight to the argument and cutting the "No" would work great here. Starting a response with "No" will immediately make you seem like you're enemies, or on opposite sides, so from the get-go, they'll be looking for ways to debunk your argument instead of actually listening to what you have to say, making it harder for them to be convinced/listen to you. All I'm saying (as a tip) is that if you want a better chance at winning an argument/reaching a compromise, starting with "No" isn't the way to do it...I wasn't being overly sensitive or trying to criticize their point, I was just trying to use a CZcams comment as an opportunity to teach someone something that might help them in life. Also you don't even know whether I'm American lol.
As a person that lives in downtown Atlanta, I can tell you since Covid the heavy traffic is pretty much gone. Highways do get busy at certain hours. But nothing like two years ago. Inner city streets are empty of cars most hours of the day. Office buildings that used to have police personal at the end of the day to let cars out of large underground parking are nonexistent. It will be interesting to see post Covid. Atlanta is still thriving. Most people work from home now, out in the suburbs.
Not to be crass but you obviously haven't experienced the back ups at this interchange and others in ATL as I've seen many times. Covid, no Covid, it's still a mess.
Back to normal/even worse now lol
@@smockers8757 it's horrible on the connector. Atlanta will never be a major player until the mass transit system is improved with heavy rail expansion and more frequent bus routes that go more places. Everywhere you go in and around Atlanta all you see is apartment units being built. Traffic was already screwed up in this town and now you're just adding more people to an already congested area with no transport options other than cars.
@@darnellphyfer1075 exactly man. all these damn apartments are being filled by out-of-towners with cars so it’ll just continue to get worse
@@smockers8757 You for got about the endless amount of newly built townhomes. But I gotta say this is making the downtown/midtown/buckhead much more dense and urban. More people are apt to walk instead of driving.
The US is such an odd country: so rich yet so poor at the same time
EDIT: What’s going on in Texas proves my point.
We aren't poor our government does not work! The politicians really don't care or seem to care about the future. I would love for us to start building transit systems that work!
Unlike other countries, every single person owns a car sometimes multiple. And everyone would still rather drive than take a bus/train/bicycle/walk.
We're basically a third world country in gucci drip
Just a country in need of major public works to facilitate workforce movement around cities, states and the nation. This is part of what is making the rich richer, and the poor poorer (among so many other things). It'll bite us in the butt in the next few decades as it begins to slow economic growth and emerging economies begin to gain steam.
@@blitzn00dle50 we arent anywhere close to third world. Our government just sucks, that’s all
The issue with the US is that they never created a basic public transport system to build upon. What cities need is a proper underground/train/bus/tram network.
They do, but a healthy city gives as many people as many transportation options as possible. That does include private car ownership and public transport, but also walking and cycling. The more options you give people, the more car use will decrease to sustainable levels.
Obviously that's not doable everywhere (walking to your destination in a US suburb is almost impossible because of the sheer distances), but the attitude in the US does seem to be that unless it's possible everywhere, it's not worth doing anywhere, and that simply makes no sense.
Look at China one of the best train systems but they got more traffic then the us.
@@rjfaber1991 The thing is that the problems with zoning laws and car dependance have been known to US city planners, the public and politicians for decades, yet they still embrace those idiotic zoning ideas in new and future developments.
@Pro Tengu wtf are you talking about ,you are shooting yourselves in the foot by having such a stupid so called "car culture"
@Pro Tengu Your country can't even keeps it's own population from warring with each other, how do you expect to be taken serious by anyone else?
The US should invest into public transport instead of more roads... As an European I cannot believe that taking the train is not 'normal' there. Especially for a country that pioneered with trains.
as a european you public transport people disgust me... public transport is just vile no matter how you dress it up
Okidoki of all the developed countries, America is the most backward on public transportation.
@@LoneWolf-wp9dn Ever been to Helsinki, Finland? The convenience, operational efficiency and cleanliness offered by their public transport is utopian.
@@LoneWolf-wp9dn A bit salty isn't it? Here in The Netherlands you get free WiFi and you can charge your laptop/phone on the trains. There's also a toilet (I wouldn't reccommend that, but when you have to go you have to go)
Part of the issue in the US revolves around the tax incentives that our suburbs work with. There's no incentive to produce railways but there are to build/maintain our roads. We're a country run on money
Whenever you air your videos i am left impressed at new tech information being used to make civil engineering and its affiliate fields easy to manage and speed up work.
I can't really understand why Americans don't love public transportation networks like subway and bus... Overall, investments in public transport will pay themselves in few years. Just look at megacities in Asia investing in public networks by billions per year..
Almighty it’s all politics. There has been discussion after discussion about this but nothing is ever done.
Most Americans don’t hate good public transportation. There’s no easy way of putting it. There are more crazy people and criminals in the US that are willing to take advantage of people in public transport.
Mark Leel
I disagree it's politics. Although transportation system is not great and politicians really crippled it, even where it is decent generally americans avoid it out of laziness/comfort/snob or because it has an aura of "poor people" or because of plain habit !
Because their cities are not ment for public transport. Population density is so low in their cities that they would need way more lines and they have to travel much more. Atlanta is 3x bigger in size than Paris with 5x the population.
Collan
I think you meant 1/5th of the population
Atlanta was one of those US cities that was blessed with a fine mazed streetcar system until 1949. Then the lobby for motor vehicles phased out the streetcar businesses in what is now called the Streetcar Scandal. The only way out of the carcentric deadlock for Atlanta and other cities is to reinvest in a mass transit system that reaches all neighborhoods and makes the city accessible in just a fraction of the time a car ride would take. Further, such a push for mass transit will allow to redevelop the inner city into a viable space, where the contemporary need for parking space can be interchanged for viable neighborhoods and adjacent commerce. That is, when Atlanta has the guts to go this route. What this video shows is too much of the old, too much steel and concrete for cars. That’s exactly what Atlanta doesn’t need.
Ugh, to hell with sprawl, and auto-oriented development. Car centric urban planning is the root cause of all this crap.
Facts.
It's the cause of all congestion and Pollution in a city.
@@KingAsa5 Indeed. And this whole idea of solving traffic jams by expanding roads and highways is absolutely misguided, not to mention financially and environmentally unsustainable! Combating traffic by adding more traffic is complete utter lunacy.
Well until a train company can provide the same amount of pull in congress America will continue to be a car culture.
It's always good to see your video B1M .
Thank you so much 😀
I am from Georgia and I absolutely hate driving in Atlanta. For those not familiar with ATL. There is public transport, bus and rail. Although it mainly focuses on a spine through the middle. Atlanta is really spread out though. I drove someone from Philadelphia through Atlanta and they were shocked how vast the city sections are.
15 miles took me 1 hour and 44 minutes to drive. Leaving at 6am. This was before Uber and lyft got big.
It's massive.
Atlanta itself is only 135 square miles metro Atlanta is massive
While metro Atlanta is seeing large investments in highways which are filled as soon as they open. Options like streetcars can't get funding and traffic lights are long and are seldom timed for flow at any hour, thus making surface streets a log jamb
Can we please get a commuter rail system in Atlanta and the metro area
It's obviously a sponsored video, because the digital software is o SO amazing. Dislike for not including a disclaimer that it at least has sponsered elements in the video. I want transparency.
Seriously, I want my seven minutes back. I expect more from B1M than videos about ordinary highway expansions
The whole channel is run by a digital software company.
I agree it’s a bit much, but they did put an info box on the screen saying it was sponsored. B1M seems to be focusing more on this type of video recently, I hope they get back to more interesting mega projects and what not.
You should maybe pay more attention to what is being said. He stated toward the end of the video who sponsored this episode. Cannot follow your entitled hysteria.
Thanks for this! I live in Atlanta and never knew what they were doing. I'm on 75 and 285 everyday
You're welcome - thanks for watching!
If Atlanta had an efficient train system I’d move there💯💯
I’m only here to find some tips for Cities: Skylines
OMG, I just dump tons of public transit and it usually works!
@@azan-183 This is actually the solution, but the US auto industry has more money than the rail industry mostly because there is no economic incentive to make rail profitable without considerable losses in the short term. Basically it's the definition of a slow growth company, but doesn't have the prestige of tech unless a Japanese rail company got behind it.
@@KRYMauL that definitely makes sense!
As someone who live in ATL from Chicago I can say, Cars are the best way by far to get around.
You're right no car will get you nowhere but stuck in Atlanta
I’m in Atlanta. We need a new Marta train system plopped right onto all the major interstates and highways. Current train network is useless for the suburbs outside of 285 where a majority of people live who commute around Atlanta.
Suburbs don’t want MARTA.
Our republican governors refuse to give money for any type of mass transit.
There's no better feeling than seeing your home city in a B1M video
Heard
True. But it's not a good feeling to see how it to continues to fuck up. Real public transportation should have been in Atlanta a long time ago.
Nothing like hearing straight up lies and propaganda about your city. Gives me the warm fuzzies. 🤗🥰
Dang dude I thought you were gonna include the many different Marta expansions they are discussing. Clayton county commuter rail or something.
He did address it, indirectly. This is one of those projects that may or may not be seen for years.
I pass on these highways every morning and evening, never thought I’ll see them on this channel. But tbh the traffic is so much
I was going to comment the same thing. I pass though everyday at 12:00 noon and anytime between 5-7. Which is the worst time for ATL traffic.
@@teljaamMe too. The population is just increasing rapidly in the past decade. Hoping the state can really see that and fix the situation the correct way
Atlanta suffers from a land usage problem rather than a traffic problem. It’s an urban sprawl mess that spreads for miles. I live in Gwinnett County, that has gone from a population of 75,000 in 1970 to 942,000 today. Every square inch of this county (430 square miles) is being covered with apartments and subdivisions with little to no central planning. Roads are overcapacity with traffic. Mass transit would make sense, but only if the growth had been contained and managed. Sadly, I’m afraid it’s too late for mass transit to fix the situation.
Honestly the problem will never go away as long as the USA remains carcentric.
It’s already scientifically proven that expanding roads just makes more traffic. Pure stupidity.
Not exactly but u believe which u want to ig
How? Do people by a second car and drive two at once, or how does that work?
@@Opuskrokus look it up.
@@Opuskrokus By making it more convenient to drive a car, you're just pushing more people towards driving cars. Of course there is a limit to the rule, the point where all journeys are made by car, but by that point you've spent quite a lot of funds and space to facilitate a very inefficient mode of transport.
@@Opuskrokus if not every single person already owns a car, they are incentiviced to by one. If theres saturation and everyone has a car, they are going to drive it more often and for longer distances. Thats been studied a lot. Widening roads often worsened traffic jams
God I hate living in Atlanta, public transportation infrastructure always gets cut out of the budget while new highways are always being built/upgraded. There have been talks of expanding MARTA (our subway system) for decades and it hasn’t ever happened while I-75 is having its interchange with I-285 rebuilt just to accommodate for the new multi-billion dollar baseball stadium no one asked for. And people wonder why traffic keeps getting worse every year.
I don't understand why most Americans don't use public transport. It would be much easier to get around without having to wait an hour just to get somewhere because the roads are dominated by cars.
Because it's often less convenient than driving in the areas that have it. And once you're onboard there is little respect given to other passengers and zero will to make transit actually safe and welcoming for potential riders. There's a de facto "use at your own risk" mindset as a result.
It's partially because the cities are so sprawled with such low density. They take up a lot of land, but each square kilometer doesn't house that many people. If you built a station for public transport anywhere in suburbia (which would not be easy, given the zoning laws), not very many people would live within walking distance of it. It would take an absolutely massive transit system to cover a large city, with very few users at any given point in the network. That would not be economically feasible.
For public transport to make sense, they would have to make fundamental changes to how the cities are built. Build clusters of apartments and offices, for instance, then public transport between those.
@@Codraroll Untrue. People would just drive to the station and ride the train.
@@sharkheadism: That depends on how close it is, and how good parking opportunities at the station are. People would walk a few hundred meters to a station for a commute, a bit longer if biking is an option. But even switching out parts of a car commute with public transport should alleviate the pressure on the highways quite a bit.
Because riding the Atlanta MARTA somehow actually worse than sitting in traffic for 2 hours. Its inefficient, and you have to drive a car ON THE HIGHWAY to even get to it most of the time.
“Atlanta has a traffic crisis”
*laughs in LA*
Context and relativity is important to understand.
Fixing traffic with great projects of infrastructure in massive cities like Atlanta is nigh impossible unless you change zoning laws and walkability. No matter how great roads you build, they will be clogged if all five million citizens are forced to use a car due to everything being impossible to walk to while no public transit exists. Also by expanding a highway already clogged will only make it worse as it will intesivice more people to drive a car. The only way to improve traffic is to reduce the amount of cars, which means building services and work such a distance away so that you can walk or bike to them, or so that you can use public transit instead of the car.
Yes
Thank Bridgestone and GM, America
Got i hate driving a big rig in Atlanta
Compared to Atlanta, at least Los Angeles is actually investing in transit expansion
Highway widening is NOT a solution to ease traffic congestion, it has been proven by experienced senior civil engineers, transportation planners and analysts that it in-fact causes more sprawl, increases traffic which in time leads to financial losses. Atlanta should focus on spending on mass transit and burying the downtown Atlanta freeways underground as tunnels with interchanges like Sydney's WestConnex mega underground highway interchange, hence construct the entire regional commuter rail plan that was laid out in 2005. Any effort that requires highway widening or construction of additional freeways is a wasted effort to reduce congestion, it's unsustainable and remains a part of a loophole that do nothing to address the issues.
As an european, this roads seem so unbelievably stupid
Obsessed
da tovarash
@Pro Tengu Dude, if being offended by youtube comments is a problem for you, it might be best to not read them or get thicker skin.
@Pro Tengu I do think we should start pumping less into the "defense" budget and more into something like infrastructure or education.
European solutions almost never translate to American cities. Many American sunbelt cities are barely a century old and were never dense major population centers like many Dutch cities. America used to be an agrarian society until only relatively recently and aside from the coastal cities most population centers in the middle are spread out and were never built around rails. Thus, America must build rails in cities that have mushrooming populations built around freeways... it's a difficult challenge. So instead of applying what you deem "normal" do some research first and learn why America is not Europe. In the same way I often hear many Europeans criticize American defense spending while they live in countries with no standing armies protected by NATO.
If you're reading this you have the potential to create great things. Yes. You.
Doesn't everyone have a potential though, regardless if they read this or not?
@@kugul1683 he’s a bot
If you've never been to Atlanta, you've never known pain like driving through Atlanta traffic.
Los Angeles already tried widening highways. It doesn't work. Atlanta will find that out the hard way in 3-5 years.
You're so much smarter than all the planners and engineers. They should listen to you more.
@@sharkheadism lol or they can listen to all the other planners and engineers that... you know... tried the same thing but failed?
Hopefully our new Elected officials can now do something about this infrastructure crisis!
Nope they will not especially not Biden lol
@@alexander5662 Biden is focusing on the pandemic, so probably not yet
@@alexander5662 Is that what you're hoping for?
LOL...The same people running California will make a positive a change nationwide 🤣🤣🤣🤣...thanks for the laughs
@@alexander5662 nope joebiden.com/clean-energy/ Biden’s key priorities is infrastructure, especially when relating to climate change like clean transportation
I've lived in Atlanta my whole life. The problem here is the drivers, and lack of rail expansion. Nobody takes the street car because it's honestly trash, but the MARTA train is always empty. People crash their cars non stop here because there is no respect for any other driver, and there is an extreme lack of police.
My town outside of Atlanta put in a really strange intersection. It is extremely confusing but it’s reduced traffic but quite a bit.
Shouldn't eficient public transportation be the answer? Instead of just widening the roads?
They're not widening the highway. They're rebuilding an interchange.
Our heavy rail in ATL could rival DC’s Metro but all satellite counties vote down the initiative every time.. then complain about traffic
Good afternoon Fred and Co! Keep up the great content! Thanks!
At first, I thought it maybe exciting new technology. In the end, it is just a tablet. FYI, iPad was realeased 11 years ago. This is not new technology.
🥴🤣
The B1M never let me down, what a fabulous video! Please keep up the good work.🙏
Hmmmm building freeways has caused congestion have you tried building freeways about it?
I think they look cool
@Pro Tengu good one tell that to LA
@Pro Tengu do they build it with the thought that no one's gonna use it?
@Pro Tengu: No, but it causes the total share of trips that involve a car to increase. Imagine a three-lane highway that is normally so congested that only 60% of the people who could use it, do use it at any given time. The remaining 40% find alternative means of transport, or choose not to drive as often. You increase its capacity by 33% by adding a fourth lane. Now that 60% share may bump to 80%, and the road is still congested. And of course, you've removed a bottleneck in one place, but as the total volume of traffic has increased, another part of the system becomes a bottleneck instead.
Of course, you eventually hit the ceiling, when the highway is big enough to accommodate every car trip that could feasibly use its route (a capacity >100%), but at that point the road has become extremely wide and expensive to maintain, and if the population increases you have to widen it even further. Look to LA, where roads and parking lots cover 24% of the built-up surface area, and the city is *still* jammed with traffic. You need unrealistically big highways to solve traffic problems, and with great highways come great maintenance costs, or whatever Spider-Man said. At some point, alternative solutions will be a lot cheaper.
@@Codraroll thanks you've nailed it. Induced demand is ironically well studied because it doesn't really take a study to understand something designed to facilitate a behavior will encourage that behaviour. If it didn't the federal highway administration would have bigger issues to answer for than traffic congestion.
American cities' freeways reached saturation within their first 20 years of building. Any increase in capacity induces an increase in volume, which increases total drivers, the total mileage per driver and the total time per mile per driver over the life of a project. That's an exponential change. Local roads can and will never handle the level of traffic entering and exiting even an imaginary perfect freeway. In order for local feeder roads to cope they would need to replace the neighbourhoods they serve and so cities like LA have hit fundamental limits where the cost gained from upgrades is less than the gain in productivity. No amount of emotionally driven and typically fearful xenophobic suburban nostalgia can get conjure up the money to get around that fact. It's not feasible.
You can see this in the looming bankruptcy of the majority of suburban municipalities. Even without having paid for the construction of freeways, states and cities can't afford the basic maintenance of freeways and the oversize roads to feed them. Europeans might pay higher taxes, and I'm not defending them for doing that, but the layout of most of their cities is low cost and Americans are paying over in lost time, productivity and amenity.
Vancouver got by with no new freeways since the seventies and without even having actual transit till the 2010's. Just diversity in the density of housing and land use on its own was enough to avoid the congestion crisis other north American cities are facing. That goes to show even transit induces demand all the same, the difference though it's transit offers a positive return on investment and actual amenity.
If you subsidise doing a thing, you tend to find a lot of people doing that thing.
Transit, cycling and pedestrian infrastructure can wait, highway expansion is definitely the way to go! Im glad Atlanta has their priorities straight. /s
This is sarcasm right?
The lack of lane discipline causes hundreds of miles of traffic jam every day in the U.S. It´s crazy how poor driving education has such an impact on costs and time of your life being wasted
This man knows. Driving in the USA was a total nightmare. When the problem is weaving, enforce a rule to hold right when turning right. Life can be really simple. Instead, they drive like maniacs and just build bigger roads. Most sad thing to see is that instead of learning FROM OTHER COUNTRIES they just make problems worse.
Couldn't agree more! Why the government doesn't require some kind of 5 year refresher course to remind people the rules of the road is beyond me.
as Jeremy Clarkson put it "the only good thing America has done for transportation is turning right on a red light when there are no cars" (left turn for those who drive on the left side of the road)
Hello-Atlanta here... could our progress here be any more 20th century based or mundane?
Atlanta is one big freeway already. Where are our rail solutions? Where are OUR visionaries?
MARTA needs to be expanded to Cobb and Gwinnett already...the state needs to put it's foot down already and get it done. Cobb and Gwinnett voters are holding up progress!
Ahh, you see, if entire state is one big asphalt highway surface, then there no be any more room for people, therefor no cars therefor no traffic jams anymore. Much smart!
@@KeithMetoyer Yeah!! Screw their right to self governance I know what's best for 'em!
Why even bother with any rail if the city is so massive and suburban? Maybe Atlanta can put up a green belt and try to save it's farmland and wilderness? I don't see much of a future in trying to build rail and public transportation in Atlanta, that city is not going to change how it's designed in a very long time.
@@AsiaMinor12 you gotta start somewhere. Get rid of zonong laws and allow homes and businesses to be close together. That way, future developments are automatically much better suited to establish public transport from the get go
America in 1961: "Bigger is better!"
**50 years later**
"I've made a huge mistake."
Not at all... America's population has doubled since then; it makes perfect sense that it needs to greatly update infrastructure. It's like trying to force a 10-year old child into a 5 year old's clothes.
@@SquidProQuo80 Yes, but now they don't have money for that, that's the point
America should have just gone the European way and develop city centers around public transportation.
@@MrDude826 I wish past generations of Americans had that foresight. Future generations inherited crappy cul-de-sacs and grid designs.
We really shouldn't be promoting any highway expansions. More roads don't help anyone
More rail and public transportation.
They should expand the Marta
Atlanta: We have congestion problems and fast population growth and we need to solve them.
Anyone with a brain: Invest in public transport, alternatives to cars, cycle lanes, pedestrian streets, rebuild the center.
Atlanta: Yeah sure, but later.
Also Atlanta: I've got an idea - BIGGER ROADS.
Well said.
When I lived in Manhattan and drove across the Williamsburg or Manhattan bridges in the 1980's and getting stuck in traffic it was horrifying. I'd sit there in the middle of the bridge looking out at rusty and broken steel supports while feeling the bridge move and be scared. I don't know if things are better or worse these days.
Could you do a video on some sort of scottish project
Yes, we did do the Forth bridges a few years ago (2017)
The great Glasgow heroin & Irn Bru factory.
@@TheB1M Link here, please ).
You're the best of the best 👏👏👏
Ah wow, thanks so much!!! ✊
@@TheB1M this is the truth 😘😘😘
You make me love architecture ❤️❤️❤️
More lanes = more traffic. The solution is NOT wider roads
Republicans and Democrats here’s something we can all agree on. We need an infrastructure bill that will create million of jobs. Lower unemployment and create future jobs in the process and investment in our cities. We need to invest more in rail systems and encouraging people to take alternative routes of travel to lower pollution in our environments. Come on Washington get it done. ✅
FACTS! I thought infrastructure was a bipartisan issue, but Congressional GOP members don't seem to have any interest in it, even when they controlled the government.
No we do not need a large pork barrel bill that won't build any infrastructure and only fund their donners with corrupt contract schemes. Cause that's what an "infrastructure bill" would lead to. Just look at the disaster that is California HSR
I can’t be the only one who is surprised by how outdated this makes the US look. Acting like the use of tablets instead of paper for site plans is a big deal, the fact they use paper in such an abundance is shocking and I just don’t get how a country with that much influence seems to be running in the 80s
cope
Atlanta could have been a great city, top notch but is one of the worst places to live now due to these facts: traffic, crime, weather (hot and humid) lack of decent entertainmentis one of the worst places to live now due to these facts: traffic, crime, weather (hot and humid) and poor of decent entertainment.
“Atlanta will be a great city, when they finish building it.”
-Lewis Gizzard
Yeah right
As an atlanta resident until we at least double the size of MARTA(atlanta's metro) our traffic isn't gonna get better
I like videos like these covering projects that are really important to the whole country, you should go over more areas of the U.S. There’s a huge bridge being constructed on the Detroit-Canada border you guys should think about doing a video on!
Just an update: the North part of 285 and 400 is mostly finished it does work a lot better now. also in the city there are a lot of developments and improvements and more walkable places. It’s very difficult as Americans all our cities or most are built for cars and as our cities continue to grow to we have to keep up and not just build more roads. I really think Atlanta is starting to turn the corner on this but there is still a long way to go. Thank you for a great video.
I literally wait for B1M to upload the video for me to see. The graphics are extremely elegant and amazing to see. Wish B1M to make a video on any infrastructure project in India too.
I don't understand why they keep investing in non car solutions for a city that loves its cars. "If you build it they will come" hasn't seemed to work well for Atlanta in the past.
Great video once again. Thank you.
Thank you!! 🙌
Widening roads brings more lanes of traffic. More pollution
How many cities in USA have BRTS, metro trains, street car
Subways, trams,
Just a few
There's a huge project in Madrid called Madrid nuevo norte, I really would like to hear your presentation
We have covered it - czcams.com/video/emUEiCd_6CM/video.html
@@TheB1M wait so are you saying that video is only available if I pay? Because the video you posted here is from July but it's still private
@@filipburic5194 Yepp its members only. Its quite annoying tbh, Its more expensive than my music subscription with way less content, nowadays everything is behind a paywall.
@@collan580 that's ridiculous, I'm all for paying to get early access but the fact that this video is so old and they still haven't made it public id pretty sad. But can't expect much else I suppose.
@@filipburic5194 Early acces is fine, i dont have any problem with it, my problem is that now every channel does this and its just anoying.
Awesome Video! Thanks @TheB1M
I followed B1M on Instagram and i subscribed to B1M on CZcams, so i can not miss any of your videos ❤🙌
YES!! Thank you so much! 🙌 🏗
@@TheB1M 👍👍
As am Atlanta resident I can unfortunately say that GDOT (Georgia Department of Transportation) spends billions on new roads, express lanes, and highway widening but nothing on transit. The city and MARTA has lots of ideas for transit but with no funding or buy-in from local governments they are just that, ideas, not solutions being implemented.
Investment in subway system should be done. New York, London, Paris..they all have good subway system. Issue bonds for capital
Traffic is not a Flow problem, it is a distribution problem. The only ways to reduce traffic are mixed use development, and increasing street network connectivity.
Great video once again!
Thank you so much!!
I think another two heavy rail lines along with a circular line would connect almost all of Altanta and its suburbs and provide a long-term sustainable transportation.
I have a few friends who are civil engineers. Apparently, people in general really don't like using iPads over paper for the construction plans. They like how large the paper is so they can see a lot of the plan at once versus a tiny iPad.
if you cant see the plans well, then you can just eyeball it and make the road bad so then people wont want to drive and create traffic. the ipad was a brilliant idea imo.
I live right off 285 in Atlanta and it can get pretty hectic. If we had a better train system traffic here would be a lot better.
Want less traffic, get more people out of their cars.
This means stop making citites that required car use. (And this is coming from a car guy)
And how would that happen genius? All of you people are just sitting in an echo chamber saying the same thing. How in the world do you completely remake cities? The overwhelming majority of Americans live in suburbs around cities or rurally. Do you plan on destroying all their places to shop and eat and and bring them closer to the street and rebuild the buildings there? How about flattening their neighborhoods and rebuilding them in a more traditional way that could be serviced by street cars? You think you can flatten the last 70 years of everything that’s been built and build completely new everything in its place? You could change the zoning laws nationwide and the amount of development over the next 50 years won’t even come close to balancing out the development of the 50s-now. It’s impossible unless you become a dictator and start destroying suburbs intentionally
@@natebryars732 As much as I hate city sprawl, I would have to agree with you on this. Reducing zoning laws would be a start, but naturally most Americans enjoy their cars and big houses, with big yards. We could design future housing to take up less space and design roads to do the same, but that wouldn't solve the issue entirely. The fact of the matter is, is that we screwed ourselves and thanks to the overdone and reckless construction of roadways and suburban neighborhoods in the 50's, we now have to pay billions every year to maintain those same roadways and suburban neighborhoods that we built too much of.
I was hoping to see some improvements in public transit. As someone who lives in Houston, it's frustrating to see new highways added every other month. Even more upsetting when so much land is cleared to build toll roads. Do elevated trains instead! Still a great video. Love this channel
I am really impressed by the channel's capability to gather new construction information really quickly. Must have an experienced research team.
😂
Atl needs to dramatically increase their public transportation system
As long as a rail system like Atlanta's streetcar costs $100 million/mile to install (that's on a ROW which is already publicly owned), it will not be a practical solution.
Wish they would spend money on high-speed railways from Atlanta to Charlotte or Jacksonville at least with stops in certain strategic locations such as Athens, Atlanta Airport, Macon, Spartanburg and Greenville just a few to mention. Also, Atlanta-Chattanooga-Nashville might be a good corridor to investigate.