[This is an EXCERPT: read the whole article here. -Ed.]

by Larry Higgs

High gas prices and how that will change the way people commute and where they work and live replaced the usual discussion about crumbling roads and bridges at a transportation symposium held by the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority Thursday.

The symposium was held to identify issues as the NJTPA prepares to write its Regional Transportation Plan for the next 25 years. The authority works with 13 northern and central counties, including Monmouth and Ocean, to plan and spend about $1 billion in federal transportation funding annually.

Daniel Lerch, program manager of the Post Carbon Institute, talked about how cheap, plentiful oil supplies have peaked and demand is outstripping supply. The oil in places such as the Arctic and off the coast will be difficult to reach and more expensive, he said.

Planning and engineering has to change based on the new realities, Lerch said.

Prior to the oil price spike, planning was done around predicted population growth, which may now change, Lerch said.

"We must take time to make fundamental changes to land use," he said. "There are no easy answers, and they are ultimately political decisions."

Photo credit: Peter Roome