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More And Better Public Transportation

President Obama in mid-February signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act bill, which includes tens of billions of dollars for transportation infrastructure.

The action now moves to the states, where state officials will decide whether to build more unnecessary superhighways or forge a 21st century transportation system with public transit at its core.

Soon to be determined is how the biggest chunk of infrastructure money in the Economic Recovery Act, the flexible $27.5 billion in “Surface Transportation Program” (STP) funds will be spent. Contrary to the practice of most states’ past practice, this is not a “highway” program. Federal law explicitly designates this program to provide funding for road, bridge, rail, bus, bicycle or pedestrian projects. Please join us in urging your Governor to use STP funding to prioritize energy-saving transit, bicycle and pedestrian projects with the remainder allocated to road and bridge repair and preventive maintenance rather than new or wider highways. Click here to take action.

Overview

The President proposes new investment in public transit projects and more livable development patterns for our communities, in order to make our country more economically competitive and less dependent on oil.  

The President’s proposal also invests $5 billion over 5 years for high speed rail, building on the $8 billion down payment included in the economic recovery legislation. This investment will finally provide the public with a new alternative to congested highways and the headaches of air travel.

Our current transportation system has many of us stuck endlessly waiting in traffic, all the while spewing air pollution and consuming billions of barrels of overseas oil.

But our government has spent nine times more on highway projects than on public transportation. As transit ridership nationwide hits a 52-year high and gas prices remain volatile, the time is right to change the imbalance in our transportation system.

Light rail, clean bus systems, and other public transit should play a greater part in America’s transportation future. Efficient public transportation systems reduce the number of cars on the road and increase our options for getting around.

We’re working for more and better transit by encouraging public support for new projects and improved service and asking Congress to invest in solving long-term transportation problems by funding public transportation.