Many were pedestrians or bicyclists. Car crashes are the number one cause of death for children nationwide. Ninety-nine percent of automobile trips include no charge for parking. However, neither land nor pavement are free, and the expense of parking is incorporated into other costs. Space could be used more efficiently if businesses with different busy periods shared parking.
Pavement also has a major impact on water quality.
Dirt, motor oil, and household chemicals are washed off pavement into our streams and lakes. This polluted stormwater runoff is a major source of water pollution. In several Oregon cities, stormwater runoff mixes with sewage and overwhelms treatment plants, resulting in raw sewage discharges to our rivers. We can't build our way out of congestion Congestion wastes time, causes more pollution, makes everyone unhappy, and is getting worse. Many people wonder why we can't just build more roads to eliminate traffic jams.