The following is a guest post by John Rozankowski, PhD

For decades, New York City public policy has encouraged large commercial and residential developments without asking the obvious questions: How will the large numbers of people, which these projects attract, get around? Mass transit was rarely discussed. As a result car dependency has grown dramatically with more traffic gridlock, pollution and fatalities the inevitable result.

As public policy became increasingly environmentally conscious, a punitive attitude against drivers has grown: reduction of traffic lanes, the lowering of speed limits, street bumps, cameras, proposals such as congestion pricing and bridge tolls to make driving more expensive, etc. While the intent of these measures is generally good, they do suggest that driving is somehow “evil” and make drivers the scapegoats.