According to the stories:
When it comes to weighing the overall value of expanding southeast Michigan's road network against constructing a public transit system, the case for roads is not as solid as proponents say. Why? Because roads are tremendously expensive to build, costly to maintain, and don't last very long. In a state and region no longer able to afford massive road construction it's a good moment to wonder whether a way of life that continues to be so devoted to building highways is throwing good money after bad.
A Wayne State survey of students, faculty, and staff earlier this year found that 98 percent of the 5,581 people who responded said developing mass transit in the region was crucial, and two-thirds said they would take a bus to campus if it were convenient. The Wayne State Board of Governors considered that finding, and prodded by attorney Richard Bernstein, one of its members, voted unanimously in September to form a transit committee.
For the first time since Michigan and its largest metropolitan region launched the road-dominated transportation and economic development strategy six decades ago, two critical questions have become priorities:
Is Michigan's roads-only transportation system obsolete? And is a policy that gives short shrift to alternatives flexible and creative enough to keep the state's economy and quality of life competitive in this century? Based on the conditions in southeast Michigan, and the experiences of other metropolitan regions that are fast developing new designs for growth, the answer to the first is probably. The answer to the second is a clear no.
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