We Need Bicycle/Walking Paths Between Cities

Dear Editor,
    Recently, New Orleans was evacuated for Hurricane Ivan. Everyone who had a car got into it, and a grand traffic jam was the result. My brother and sister-in-law, who live in New Orleans, planned to drive their car to Austin to wait out the storm. They didn’t get that far. They sat in their car for six hours and went 10 miles. That’s slower than a slow walk. Finally they stopped in Baton Rouge.
    If there were bicycle/walking paths between cities, it would be much easier to evacuate them in an emergency. Bicyclists and pedestrians don’t jam up and stop moving nearly as fast as cars do. In the case of New Orleans, there were 100,000 citizens without cars. If there were intercity cycling paths, people without cars and without much money would also be able to get out.
    If Austin needed to be evacuated, there would be big traffic jams, and all roads out would be blocked by stalled cars. So please, for the sake of public safety, let’s connect the cities of Texas with paths for cyclists and pedestrians.