One change I would like to see in Salt Lake County is traffic reform. This has been a growing concern for a while now. The traffic keeps getting worse, and the solutions have traditionally been politicized and attached to agendas that I cannot fully support. It is my hope that encouraging prayerful consideration of traffic issues will help us set aside the politics and find solutions that will create a better living environment for our neighbors in Salt Lake County. Here are a few traffic issues to pray about:

This issue is, honestly my lowest priority. I know that auto emissions contribute to our poor air quality along the Wasatch Front, and I do believe that we have a responsibility to improve our environment, but I have found more important and compelling reasons to reduce traffic than just to improve air quality. But we should still pray about this air quality issue. Is this the air quality God wants for you and your neighbors? What changes does God want you to make to improve air quality in your area? 

Cars are loud, and that makes our cities very uncomfortable places to be. Cars are only partly responsible for air quality issues, but they are predominantly responsible for noise pollution in our communities. 

This issue is not minimized by electric cars. Noise comes more from the speed of the tires on the pavement than it does from the engine, so EVs are pretty much as loud as any other car.

Traffic noise is the noise people are trying to escape when they vacation in the mountains or on the beach. People in areas that have significantly reduced traffic experience a reduced need to escape their cities. Those cities become the places people want to vacation in.

What noise level or level of peace and quiet is best for you and your neighbors? God has the answer to that question. What changes does God want you to make to achieve this level?

Utah has a reputation for having bad drivers. When cars became the main means of transportation, a whole system of traffic laws and regulations had to be created that are simply not required for other means of transportation. A willingness and ability to learn and follow those traffic laws is imperative to operate a motor vehicle in this society. I am not sure that everyone in Utah is ready to commit to abiding by the rules of the road, so maybe we need to shift away from a transportation system where everyone’s safety is dependent on everyone’s compliance, or at least give people other options.

Traveling by bicycle is much more forgiving of people who don’t use turn signals, people who drive on the wrong side of the road, and people who suddenly stop or change directions. Bicycle and foot traffic don’t require traffic lights at all. 

Does God want us to force people to travel exclusively within the system that requires people to learn and follow traffic rules? Or does God want us to provide safe and convenient transportation options for people who don’t want to? You’ll have to ask Him.

Automobiles are the most inefficient way to move people, especially when they are used for individual, personal transportation. The majority of cars on the road have only a driver and no passengers. That’s one person travelling in a box up to 9 feet in length and 7 feet in width, with at least one (9 ft.) car length in front and another (9 ft.) car length behind for safety at moderate speeds. And each driver is travelling with the assumption that a space for each individual’s box is being reserved for them at every potential destination. It’s a colossal waste of space, not to mention waste of fuel.

The whole situation is so inefficient that it is not sustainable. Cars and truck cause great damage to the roads they travel causing a constant need for repairs. Other forms of transportation don’t require nearly as much maintenance.

Road maintenance and road widening projects cost more money than most cities can generate. They are often dependent on help from the federal government. Our whole transportation system is on government assistance.

All the space reserved for cars makes everything in town more spread out, That means that not only do roads need to be longer, but gas lines, water lines, power lines and communication lines all have to be longer, too. Cities sprawl beyond their city limits. Police and fire districts are enlarged, and everything larger is more expensive to maintain. Parking spaces and parking lots are land uses that do not generate revenue. Automobile infrastructure takes and doesn’t give back.

 We need to consider a few changes. Does God want your community to be dependent on government assistance to maintain your transportation system? Does God want you to devote this much land use to cars? What changes does God want you to make in your hometown?

Motor vehicles are the most dangerous things in town. Their size, weight and speed make them deadly. For most people driving a car is the only thing they do that is so dangerous that they carry insurance because of the likelihood that they could cause catastrophic damage, injury and death. What does God want you to do to reduce traffic injuries and deaths? Ask Him.

Traffic causes stress and anxiety. Road rage is an anxiety response. Unlike some other anxiety triggers, this is not an irrational fear. Each car on the road with you could kill you at any give moment. The danger is real. People experience this stress at different levels and deal with it in different ways, but is it good for anyone? Does God want you and your neighbors living with stress and anxiety that could be alleviated by traffic planning alternatives? What traffic planning initiatives does God want you to support and promote?

Personal freedom is an argument that I often hear people use against programs that would limit cars and reduce traffic, especially when people are afraid of government or AI controlling their travel by closing all public transportation. And I get it. That’s terrifying. Maybe we should pray about ways to limit government and AI while we are praying about traffic issues.

I just want to point out that they can control your movement and contain you by cutting the fuel supply or manipulating gas prices. Alternative means of transportation like bicycles protect individual freedom. They keep us free from fuel price manipulation. Many people learned this during the pandemic. What level of freedom does God want for you and your neighbors? Ask Him.

This is the most important reason I think we need to reform our transportation system- Some people are being kept from accessing basic goods and services because we live in cities designed for the convenience of cars and some people do not or cannot drive a car. People who don’t drive cars are often among the most vulnerable segments of society- the poor, the elderly, the disabled, the addicts, and the children. Children have transportation needs, too. They have places to go.

Our neighbors in each of these groups deserve to be able to travel independently to the places they want and need to go. They need transportation options that are safe, convenient and connected to the goods and services and places where a good life happens. That includes access to food, medicine, doctors, haircuts, fitness centers, schools, classes, seminars, activities, piano lessons, public meetings, entertainment, movies, concerts, restaurants, and homes of friends and family- anywhere they want to go.

Remember, that you don’t want to be restricted to unreliable and limited public transportation or be told when and where you can go. You don’t want to be at the mercy of someone else’s agenda or schedule. You want to be free, and so do your neighbors who cannot drive cars.

And right now the cars are in the way. The cars and the roads for cars and the parking lots for cars are blocking the way for anyone outside of a car. And that means that I would have to accept changes to the roads and parking lots, and I might not be able to take my car everywhere, but if transportation was reformed so that my neighbors who cannot drive wouldn’t have to, I wouldn’t have to either. The same improvements that would make transportation safe, convenient, and connected for them would work for me, too. And if I didn’t drive so much and all of my neighbors didn’t have to drive or be driven to every location, traffic would be much improved for everyone. 

This is the transportation issue that grabbed my heart. God wants me to improve transportation for my neighbors. What does God want you to do to improve transportation in your hometown? Ask Him. 

This article was inspired by the Youtube chanel Not Just Bikes. Jason Slaughter gives great examples of traffic issues, car-dependency, solutions and how these things affect quality of life. I highly recommend studying his content. Here is a link to the episode that changed my heart about transportation: Not Just Bikes- Why City Design is Important (and Why I Hate Houston)