I would like to see Garland become a better place to live. I want it to be more attractive and more beautiful and I want the residents to be safer, healther and happier. Does this mean that we need to give them the ability to drive non-stop from one end to the other at a high rate of speed? Probably not. Garland does not have a congestion proplem. If you need to get out of Garland fast than you have probably been up to no good.

These suggestions for mitigating traffic congestion are from what? the 1950's?

Accept some level of congestion - As a planner and leader this is like saying, "we suck and we can't be better and the sooner we accept this the sooner we can move on to face other issues."

Diversify development patterns - This one acutally makes sense, but this needs to be a larger bullet.

We need to diversify the types of transportation available in the metroplex. Bike path, bus routes, rail routes side-walks, etc.

Immgine if we made pedestrial by-ways that actually linked together. People could bicycle or walk or even make it from the bus-stop to home without choosing whether to march through someone's muddy grass or to risk their lives on busy streets.

When Katy trail in Dallas was constructed the property value of the buildings directly adjacent to the trail went up in value by an average of 20%. The trail easily paid for itself in additional property tax revenues.

Adminstrators are ignorant: My child has been scolded for bicycling to school. 3,000 lb SUVs are allowed to drive on school property but a child is not allowed to ride in the parking lot leading up to the bike rack. Make it safe for children to walk, bike, skate, or shuffle to school and soccer moms will no loger clog up the road in the morning.

Manage the construction process. Concentrate on the bottlenecks but also provide alternatives to bottlenecks.

Manage the demand. we need to stop grouping like-use together. When everyone starts and stops their activites at the same time they hit the road at the same time and this causes congestion.

Improve system efficiency - This is too large a concept to even touch.

Build more capacity - this is not the solution. With $4.00 a gallon gasoline, automobiles are not the right answer for our population. Consolidation and diversification are the only viable alternatives.

Todd, you are right on the money. We need LESS roads in North Texas, not more. We should be building bike trails, rail lines, etc. instead of roadways.