. . . and because it is the obvious choice we fail to properly investigate alternatives. We are, in essence, Obligated To The Obvious (OTTO).
One blogger, reacting to an article in EYE Magazine (written by Chris Bilton) about Cable Propelled Transit, had this to say:
In some of my planning classes, we learned about doing environmental assessments and how often, transit agencies would have to consider every possible mode of transit before selecting what we called the “obvious choice”.
It’s unfortunate that this planner had this educational experience. Being taught to pay lip-service to exploration and investigation undermines and insults our cities, our people and our government. It’s also a cynical and dishonest waste of precious time and money, things no city has a wealth of.
We should not be teaching the next generation of planners to plan this way, even if it is a realistic assessment of the way things are.
If you’re paid to explore alternative ideas, do so. But don’t do it part way. Do it all the way or don’t do it at all. And while you’re at it, do it with passion, diligence and creativity. After all, you never know what you might discover.