National transportation analyst John Charles believes that the advent of light rail in Vancouver will not decrease congestion – in fact just the opposite.

He asks if people will give up their cars “if we take away road-building, if we put lots of money into light trail, if we use the power of zoning to make people live the way they don’t want to?” The answer, Charles says, is a resounding no.

Charles, CEO of Cascade Policy Institute, also warns of TOD (transit oriented development) problems that go hand-in-hand with light rail.

Click on the video to watch the full, unedited video of his statements at an earlier “Bridging the Gaps” event in Vancouver.

See our continuing coverage of the Columbia River Crossing Light Rail project.

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