Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Intelligent Transportation - The Discovery Institute's Other Wedge Issue

Wedge Issue: (noun) A political issue that divides a candidate's supporters or the members of a party.

The Discovery Institute is well-known as a promoter of "Intelligent Design". What is less known is that The Discovery Institute promotes another divisive wedge issue called "Intelligent Transportation".

First, anything that calls itself "intelligent" should raise red flags.

"Intelligent Transportation" is vague and confusing because its purpose is to confuse and bamboozle the public so that some pretty awful stuff like highway boondoggles that wouldn't pass public scrutiny slips in through the back door while people are scratching their heads trying to figure out the "intelligent" stuff.

Most of the "Intelligent Transportation" concepts are far from being new or innovative. They range from telecommuting to monorails to Bus Rapid Transit to "smart roads".

John Niles is a "Fellow" with Cascadia, the Discovery Institute's transportation division. Niles is one of Puget Sound's leading opponents of rail transit. He works with gadgetbahn professor Jerry Schneider at the Public Interest Transportation Forum.

Niles also works with Emory Bundy of Coalition for Effective Transportation Alternatives (CETA) to oppose LRT. Emory Bundy, the former head of a now defunct PRT company called "Pathfinder Systems" claims to be an "environmental activist" and likes to tell people how much he rides a bicycle. Here's Bundy on a local Televison show, railing against rail for the Downtown Seattle Republican Club:

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