Letters to the Editor: December 6, 2024

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Alternatives to cars

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Many readers do not understand “induced demand.”

Induced demand is what happens when you widen a road. It does not imply people will buy more cars, it means more drivers will modify their driving habits to use the wider road. In the very short term, there may be an improvement in traffic flow.

But, very quickly, it becomes as busy as before. We induced a demand by allowing a bigger throughput, but all the extra vehicles get in each other’s way at intersections and turns and ultimately, it backs up worse than before.

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This is guaranteed. More lanes don’t improve traffic flow long-term. The only way to improve traffic is to get people out of cars. And the only way we’ll ever get people out of cars is to build viable alternatives: bike lanes and mass transit.

Jordon Squires, London

Bike lanes safer

In his letter Less gridlock a benefit (Nov. 30), John Lisowski wonders why London needs bike lanes.

The lanes were created to keep drivers from killing cyclists. I was hit by a rear-view mirror on a van last summer.

After the Second World War, we built multi-lane highways and massive parking lots. The more highways and parking lots we built, the worse the traffic became. Our only answer was to build even more. This is addiction.

Some of us have since concluded personal cars are terribly inefficient. Just because we need cars for grocery shopping does not justify driving them everywhere. Hauling two tonnes of steel and glass to work is preposterous. Drivers need to be reminded their gas purchases, parking fees, maintenance and licensing are taxes they are imposing on themselves.

David Nielsen, London

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Canada failures

We should be ashamed of our federal and provincial governments failing to honour their commitments.

Here are some of them:

Failing to honour the treaties with the Indigenous Peoples.

Failing to provide safe drinking water to all Canadians.

Failure to invest two per cent of GDP on military spending. We are among the bottom seven of the 32 member nations of NATO.

Our place in the world continues to be eroded by our failure to meet commitments. We are losing the respect Canada once enjoyed.

W. Keith Lawson, London

Think outside box

The October issue of SciTechDaily reports plants and trees absorb 31 per cent more carbon dioxide than previously estimated. Could that affect London’s carbon footprint since we embarked on a tree-cutting campaign?

Our Green Planet reports how captivity affects the mental well-being of all animals. Could that stress humans restricted to a high-density city?

True accountability includes updating research, transparency, sustainability and regard for our culture (which includes accommodation of faith-based people as much as gender-diverse and handicapped communities). It’s thinking outside the box.

Patrick Bestall, London

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