As Congress debates the next multi-billion dollar federal transportation bill, U.S. PIRG is calling on our leaders to double the nation’s investment in public transit.
“We have a chance to bring America’s public transit systems into the 21st century,” said Phineas Baxandall, a U.S. PIRG policy analyst with expertise on budget issues. “With a 21st century system, we can take a big dent out of our worsening traffic jams, our nation’s oil dependence, and global warming.”
Doubling the federal investment in public transit would help provide record numbers of transit riders with reliable service and could move promising transit projects off the drawing board here in New Mexico and across the country. A greater investment in public transit could benefit New Mexico in two ways: more funds for local public transit projects, and a reduced dependence on oil as people drive less and ride public transit more.
Funding Favors New Roads
Since 1956, when the Interstate Highway Act was passed, state and federal governments have invested nine times more in highways than on public transportation. The Interstate Highway System was completed decades ago, but our transportation system is still biased toward building new highways.
New, big highway projects have never gone begging for friends on Capitol Hill, thanks in part to the political influence of the automobile and road-building industries, as well as other interests that stand to reap huge profits if the right projects receive a congressional green light. Yet with public concern growing over traffic and global warming, and with public support for public transit on the rise, the political winds are starting to shift.
Leading up to the federal budget decisions, we’re building support at the state and municipal levels, asking organizations and local leaders to agree to:
• Support projects that expand clean, efficient transportation choices by prioritizing investment of new funds for light rail, commuter rail, rapid bus service, and other forms of modern public transportation.
• Support projects that fix our crumbling roads and bridges by investing more federal highway money in maintenance, not new highway projects. The federal government should prioritize maintaining and modernizing our existing highways before building more.
• Support projects that spend taxpayers’ money wisely by focusing transportation dollars on solving our nation’s biggest problems. For decades, the federal government has spent billions of dollars on highway projects with no accountability. Federal transportation money should be spent only on projects that produce real results over the long haul.
