A new report by Gregory Rowangould, an assistant professor of civil engineering at the University of New Mexico whose research focuses on sustainable transportation. Rowangould formerly worked for the Natural Resources Defense Council and is a strong transit advocate. However, like the Antiplanner, he is very skeptical of Albuquerque’s proposal to convert two of the four-to-six lanes of Albuquerque’s Central Avenue to dedicated bus lanes. Rowangould's report can be viewed at the following link. http://ti.org/pdfs/RowangouldReport.pdf Rowangould concludes by saying the “project as currently designed will do more harm than good.” He suggests that the city improve bus service by simply increasing bus frequencies on heavily used routes. The city could also ask customers to pay before they board (a part of Albuquerque’s proposal) on any buses, not just buses that have dedicated lanes. Like Indianapolis, Albuquerque appears to have created a project to get a Federal grant, not to actually improve transportation. Moreover, the Albuquerque project seems to have focused on obtaining "free" tax dollars for their transit system without paying attention to the broader issues of sound urban design and the functions of an urban street. Sadly, Rowangould’s report was commissioned by a law firm that is representing Albuquerque businesses who fear they will be harmed by the the project. They have asked a federal court to require that Albuquerque do a complete environmental assessment rather than be “categorically excluded” from such an assessment. The group’s motion for a preliminary injunction includes Rowangould’s report as well as a declaration from Paul Lusk, who was a former principle planner for the city Albuquerque, and several other people who object to the project. The full injunction can be viewed at the following link. http://ti.org/pdfs/MakeARTSmartmotion.pdf It is a sad day indeed when ordinary citizens have to raise money to hire law firms that commission engineering consultants to repudiate junk science that has been commissioned by their own city planning organizations. Moreover, they should not have to “mobilize political opposition” to counter the potentially criminal incompetence of the Federal Transportation Administration.