Last week Dominic wrote about the largely unnoticed fact that traffic on the Alaskan Way Viaduct has already dropped 40 percent since construction on it began—calling into question whether a huge, expensive tunnel meant to serve all that traffic is even necessary. The data was put together by the invaluable Sightline Institute.

Now, Sightline points out that it's not just about viaduct construction: Traffic through downtown has been declining since 1998.

The declines of 2012 merely accelerated a longstanding trend. According to data from the Washington and Seattle departments of transportation, traffic through downtown Seattle actually peaked all the way back in 1998 and has declined steadily since then.

Go check that piece out. We have got to stop focusing so much of our transportation infrastructure on cars, y'all. Get it together.