Tony Donovan’s recent commentary about the need for light rail expansion in Maine was spot on (“Commentary: Maine Department of Transportation must take passenger rail seriously,” June 15). Mass transit must be developed in Maine, or we will face the problems of traffic congestion, pollution and vehicular fatalities that come with expanding car infrastructure in growing metro areas.

Plus, the well-studied phenomenon of “induced demand” means that no matter how many lanes we add to the highway or arterial road, traffic will always increase to meet and exceed road capacity. One only needs to look to the 16-lane, traffic-choked highways of Houston, Los Angeles, Atlanta or – closer to home – to the Big Dig in Boston, where standstill traffic is the daily norm, despite billions spent on car infrastructure. To put it another way, we cannot pave our way out of our transportation problems.

But other solutions, like light rail, bicycle lanes, street cars and dedicated bus lanes, can handle large capacities of riders without creating the traffic, pollution and deadly problems that packing thousands of 2- and 3-ton personal vehicles onto Maine roads does.

One common refrain against these greener forms of transit is that they “restrict freedom” of riders. But how free does one feel sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic? At the very least, expanding light rail and other transit options in Maine will increase the freedom of drivers, as us folks who prefer other forms of transportation will get off the road and onto a train or bike.

Ned Melanson
Portland

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