The Changing Federal Role in Support of Public Transportation

Public transportation is working for America every day, carrying people to jobs, the elderly to health services, and students to school.It is an essential element of America's transportation infrastructure, and part of the economic engine that keeps our nation running.From crowded cities to rural America, people depend on public transportation nine billion times each year to keep their lives in motion, at an affordable price.As a 30-year partner with the federal government-across eight Republican and Democratic administrations-public transportation is good value for the money.It fuels our nation's economy by promoting jobs and leading to personal economic independence.It serves people with disabilities.As an essential element of interstate commerce, it frees up commuter highways so goods and services can get to market efficiently.And it stimulates private development while enhancing our quality of life.A strong federal transit program has an important role in any vision of America's future.In an era of limited resources, federal policy must encourage efficient use of all transportation resources.Only transit simultaneously reduces congestion, limits polluti,en, provides accessible transportation for all Americans, and saves energy.Over the past 30 years, the U.S. transit industry and its riders have prevented:• the emission of 1.6 million tons of hydrocarbons, 10 million tons of carbon monoxide, and 275,000 tons of nitrogen oxides into our air; • the importation of20 billion gallons of gasoline; and • the construction and maintenance of 20,000 lane-miles of freeways and arterial roads and 5 million parking spaces to meet rush-hour demands, saving at least $220 billion ( as much as all federal highway spending for the last 15 years).We provide these benefits by serving people who would otherwise have driven their own vehicles, adding to congestion, pollution, and increasing the demand for public spending on roads.Federal policy should increase, not reduce, the incentive for people to choose transit so these benefits can be maintained.The federal role takes on renewed importance, given the findings in numerous recent studies that subsidies for automobiles and trucks are somewhere between $378 billion and $935 billion per year.We also have served people who depend on transit as a primary source of mobility.Some are too poor to own and operate personal vehicles.Some are unable to drive because of age, youth, or other reasons.Transit provides essential mobility to some 80 million Americans without ready access to personal vehicles.Following are five reasons why the federal transit program should be preserved.• Access to Economic Opportunity.For millions of American workers, transit means access to job opportunities and economic independence.Public transit serves low-income workers and minorities in disproportionate numbers.Approximately one out of four transit riders is from a family with below-poverty-line income.This is almost double the 14.2 percent of Americans below the Census Bureau's poverty level of$13,924 for a family of four.Transit fares rose 22 percent above inflation from 1980 to 1993.Cuts in federal operating aid will mean fare increases and service reductions, making it Fall /996