American Experiment Kicks Off Its 2018 Traffic Congestion Campaign

Last May, American Experiment released a paper on traffic congestion in the Twin Cities by Randal O’Toole. That paper was the basis for the web site MNCongestion.com and a campaign that featured radio ads, billboards and bumper stickers. The theme of the Center’s project was that Twin Cities congestion is largely attributable to poor, politically-motivated decisions by unelected bureaucracies. The Met Council, in particular, has prioritized trains and bicycle paths over highways and roads, thereby making congestion worse, not better. For the details, follow the links.

This Summer the Center will again focus on transportation policy. We fired our opening shot today with a billboard near the intersection of Highways 494and 35W:

The message is simple but powerful: the problem with traffic in the Twin Cities, which is much more congested than in other comparable U.S. cities, is an inadequate system of highways and roads. Minnesotans need to use their vehicles to get where they need to go, and the only way to ease bottlenecks is by providing adequate traffic lanes. Bicycles and exorbitantly expensive fixed rail lines are never going to do the trick!