More unread Gahan reading at CityLab: "10 Tired Traffic Myths That Didn't Get a Rest in 2015."

As Jeff Gahan and his crack team of form-over-content suburbanites prepare to butcher Jeff Speck's Downtown Street Network Proposal into political monetization kicks and Main Street licks, here is a useful list of flatulent bubbles in need of bursting.

(Need help with any of these words, Shane? Consult this useful tool: That Wordbook Thingy) 

Click through to read them all in detail. I have placed our spotlight on the myth most likely to be ignored as Speck is rendered into gibberish: "A wider road is a safer road."

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10 Tired Traffic Myths That Didn't Get a Rest in 2015, by Eric Jaffe (CityLab)

The common traffic misperception I submitted for the CityLab staff post on stubborn myths we’d like to retire was just one of many encountered, yet again, during 2015. Here’s a full list for your reading-while-not-driving pleasure. Safe travels this New Year’s, and all those to come.

1. More roads mean less traffic
2. More transit means less traffic
3. Bike lanes make traffic worse

4. A wider road is a safer road
Speaking of 12-foot lanes versus 10-foot lanes, the common perception holds that the wider option is a safer design, since it gives drivers a bit more room to maneuver. But what some new research published in 2015 showed quite clearly was that wider lanes also invite cars to drive faster—erasing whatever safety benefits might be gained by additional space, and actually leading to more dangerous streets.

An evaluation of intersections in Toronto and Tokyo found lower crash rates in lanes that were closer to 10 feet, compared with those that were wider than 12 feet. “Given the empirical evidence that favours ‘narrower is safer’, the ‘wider is safer’ approach based on intuition should be discarded once and for all,” wrote the researcher who conducted the study. Oh, and the 10-foot lanes still moved plenty of traffic.

5. The next lane over is moving faster
6. Everyone else’s bad driving is the reason for traffic
7. You need to get lots of cars off the road to reduce traffic
8. Removing an urban highway would be a traffic nightmare
9. There’s no downside to cheap gas
10. Drivers pay the full cost of road maintenance