The same prediction has been made for the French road system
and for transport into and out of Paris.
I suspect that the following is true for all major cities
***
New York faces all-day rush hour by 2030
€New York may not be able to meet electricity, housing needs, experts warn
€Packed subways, roads could mean all-day rush hour
New York's status as global city could be challenged, expert warns
Tax vehicles, charge residents for trash, experts recommend
NEW YORK (AP) -- By the year 2030, New York City could have so many people
straining its infrastructure that it won't have enough electricity or
housing to meet demand, and rush hour traffic will last all day.
The city of 8.2 million people must start planning and building now for the
expected growth of 1 million more over the next 25 years, Mayor Michael
Bloomberg and a panel of experts warned.
"We now have the freedom to take on the obstacles looming in the city's
future and to begin clearing them away before they become rooted in place,"
Bloomberg said Tuesday.
Some of the findings presented Tuesday by a team of city planners,
academics, scientists and environmentalists who have spent the past year
studying the city's infrastructure and assessing its viability to cope
include:
€In 25 years, rails and roads will be "crammed beyond capacity" and won't be
able to accommodate the swarm of commuters during what is now considered
normal rush hour. Lawmakers must act now to not only expand the road network
but also to update the subway system, which was built starting in 1901 and
still uses signal and switch technology developed before the 1940s.
€The city will need thousands more housing units. And it has to be
affordable -- already, more than a third of city renters fork over more than
half their income for rent, the group said.
€Energy demand could exceed supply by as early as 2012, and by 2030 the
majority of the city's power plants will be more than 50 years old. The city
needs to improve efficiency, use alternative energy sources and modernize
its grid, which was built in the 1920s.
New York must not only meet the needs of its growing population but has to
stay competitive as a global city, said Robert D. Yaro, president of the
Regional Plan Association, a nonpartisan planning group.
"We can't put our head in the sand," he said. "We know that Shanghai and
London and other great world cities that are competing with us are making
plans like these and are doing a great job of building new economies and
building the infrastructure systems."
Suggestions offered by the expert panel included taxing vehicles that drive
into Manhattan's most heavily trafficked neighborhoods, called congestion
pricing; and charging residents by the pound for the trash they throw out.
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