Wisconsin report says US must change its transportation system

Transit provides key benefits

Steve Hawley, Mar 26, 09.

The Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group (WISPIRG) Foundation has produced a 76-page report arguing that America’s 20th-century transportation system is ill-suited for modern times. It contends that our current transportation system relies too much on cars, which increases our oil dependence, creates congestion, contributes to global warming and environmental degradation, costs too much to maintain, and harms the public health. Transit, on the other hand, conserves gas, limits congestion, reduces carbon emissions, and saves money.

A Better Way to Go: Meeting America’s 21st Century Transportation Challenges with Modern Public Transit (pdf, 1.2 mb)

The report reaches a number of key conclusions:

America’s automobile-centered transportation system was a key component of the nation’s economic prosperity during the 20th century. But our transportation system is increasingly out of step with the challenges of the 21st century. Rising fuel prices, growing traffic congestion, and the need to address critical challenges such as global warming and America’s addiction to imported oil all point toward the need for a new transportation future.

Rail, rapid buses and other forms of transit must play a more prominent role in America’s transportation future. Clean, efficient transit service already saves billions of gallons of oil each year, reduces traffic congestion in our cities, and curbs emissions of pollutants that cause global warming.

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Every American can benefit if we expand the reach and improve the quality of transit in the United States. By making a bold, national commitment to expand and improve transit, the United States can address many of our greatest challenges and create a transportation system built for the needs of the 21st century.

It notes:

• Gridlock on America’s highways gets worse with each passing year. The average American living in an urban area spent 38 hours—nearly a full work week—stuck in traffic delays in 2005, twice as much time as in 1982. Traffic congestion costs America’s economy approximately $78 billion and results in 4.2 billion lost hours each year.
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• In 2006, transit saved an estimated 3.4 billion gallons of gasoline in the United States—enough to fuel 5.8 million cars for a year. In monetary terms, transit saved more than $9 billion that would otherwise have been spent on gasoline.
• In 2005, transit prevented 540.8 million hours of traffic delay, according to the Texas Transportation Institute, equivalent to more than 61,700 people sitting in traffic for an entire year. The monetary value of those savings was $10.2 billion.
• Transit reduced global warming emissions by nearly 26 million metric tons in 2006. In New York state alone, transit avoided 11.8 million metric tons of carbon dioxide pollution—more than was produced by the entire economies of Rhode Island, Vermont, and the District of Columbia.

The report concludes, “For every dollar invested in transit, America receives nearly two dollars in economic benefits.”

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