T4America: Senate jobs bill leaves out transit

Transit good at job creation

Steve Hawley, Feb 12, 10.

The proposed jobs bill circulating in the Senate ignores transit projects, even though transit projects create twice as many jobs as highway projects, according to a Transportation for America email.

The email states:

[T]he draft being circulated has not a single dollar to address the crisis in transit funding, which threatens severe cuts to essential service and the loss of thousands of jobs.

And it’s not just transit that’s been left out of the Senate jobs bill - there’s no funding for innovative projects that can move us away from foreign oil, not a dime for high-speed rail or Amtrak, no reform of highway funding…the list goes on.

On top of that, Transportation for America emphasizes that transit cuts could affect the larger economy by making it difficult or even impossible for some people to get to work.

According to MSNBC, the Senate will not hold any votes on the bill until after the President’s Day Recess next week. Transportation for America is encouraging its members to contact their senators to express support for transit funding in the jobs bill.

A recent study by Smart Growth America, the US Public Interest Research Group, and the Center for Neighborhood Technology showed that transit projects are very effective at creating jobs. The report analyzed stimulus data and concluded that transit projects created twice as many jobs per dollar as highway projects, and five times as many in Texas. According to the analysis, transit projects are more effective because they are complex, involve fewer land acquisition costs, and involve buying and maintaining transit vehicles.