Three-fourths of Americans believe that being smarter about development and improving public transportation are better long-term solutions for reducing traffic congestion than building new roads, according to a recent survey sponsored by the National Association of Realtors® and Smart Growth America.
When asked the best long-term solution to reducing traffic congestion:
- Half think improving transit would be the best solution
- 26% believe developing communities that reduce the need to drive would be best
- Only 21% said building new roads was the answer
The survey also found:
- Near 90% believe new communities should be designed so we can walk more and drive less and that public transit should be improved and accessible.
- Fully 80% prefer redeveloping our older, existing urban and suburban areas rather than building new housing and commercial development at the edges of our existing suburbs.
- More than 70% are concerned about how growth and development affects global warming.
It’s important to note that it wasn’t just a bunch of transit advocates doing the survey. The Realtors co-sponsored it, saying:
“Realtors® build communities and care about improving our cities and towns through smarter development,” said NAR President Pat V. Combs, of Grand Rapids, Mich., and vice president of Coldwell Banker-AJS-Schmidt. “With increased traffic congestion and longer commutes, Americans are receptive to new ideas for handling growth, such as better transit or mixed-use walkable communities that allow people to cut down on their driving, as this survey shows."