First mile of paved road-How about we have the first mile of this-Solar Road!

[DetroitPlanner]

Kind of difficult in tough times to get people behind an innovation that only a fraction of a percentage of people would be able to benefit from.

If we're serious about transportation solutions, and not just promoting palliatives, why not build ... um ... light rail?

No reason [[other than no funding for either) that we can't have both! Only a fraction will benefit from light rail too. As it is only about 1 percent of the trips in the area are made with transit. Light rail if it is a huge success will be able to bring it to two percent.

If you can harness the solar to recharge the car as it rides on the road, you can toll the road accordingly. Seems like a good zero carbon solution to me.

[ghettopalmetto]

No reason [[other than no funding for either) that we can't have both! Only a fraction will benefit from light rail too. As it is only about 1 percent of the trips in the area are made with transit. Light rail if it is a huge success will be able to bring it to two percent.

If you can harness the solar to recharge the car as it rides on the road, you can toll the road accordingly. Seems like a good zero carbon solution to me.

Nice bullshit line, considering that most of the Detroit metropolitan area has about ZERO transit service in the first place. You can't use something you don't have. In related news, nobody at Lafayette Coney Island orders pizza. Therefore, people hate pizza.

Think about that the next time you hop in the car to buy a gallon of milk.

[Detroitnerd]

No reason [[other than no funding for either) that we can't have both! Only a fraction will benefit from light rail too. As it is only about 1 percent of the trips in the area are made with transit. Light rail if it is a huge success will be able to bring it to two percent.

Um ... so nobody except the people who RIDE light rail will benefit? That's a very narrow view of light rail, DP.

Light rail benefits the people who ride it, because they will not need to use a car or park a car.

But it also benefits the businesses along the line, who cater to the riders.

It benefits the people who work at the businesses that serve the riders, and, through its multiplier effect, the people whose jobs depend on their income.

It benefits the people who work maintaining the line, and, through the multiplier effect, the people whose businesses rely on the income of those people.

It benefits the motorists who drive on I-75 and the Lodge to work, taking hundreds of cars off the road during peak times.

It benefits the motorists who drive on Cass and Second, John R and Brush, freeing up road space for them as well.

It benefits anybody who has an emergency, or needs a cab, as excess road traffic is taken off the road and point-to-point vehicular access is improved.

It benefits people who live in the area, as less auto exhaust improves health.

It will raise land values, spur investment and create jobs, all of which will be felt beyond the area and will provide a living to people who live all over.

It will encourage density, saving money and energy as people live closer together, money that can be used for other purposes.

Given your credentials, I wonder why you frame light rail in such narrow terms. In short, you should know better, shouldn't you?

If you can harness the solar to recharge the car as it rides on the road, you can toll the road accordingly. Seems like a good zero carbon solution to me.

Yeah, except that it's not a zero-carbon solution at all. It will still take the same energy to produce the vehicle and to dispose of it. It is regressive in that it will still encourage people to live far from where they shop, play and work. When everybody lives far from where they conduct their activities, you are ensuring they spend much of their time traveling, and you can't say all that wear and tear on photovoltaic "solar roads" won't translate into expenses. It will be more expensive to deliver services to people who live far from where they work.

I am sick and tired of people who posit unrealistic plans to extend the life of the design failure that is late 20th century America. You want to free up cars for what they're good at? Give people transportation choices and don't make them drive everywhere, and don't make them design every environment for these space-hogs.

[One Shot]

Gotta have ideas! And with all ideas come nay sayers. Some things work and some don't but we gotta try.