The national poll that Transportation for America released this week makes it clear that Americans are overwhelmingly in favor of increasing our access to transportation options, no matter where they live in America — big cities, suburbs, small towns, or rural areas. The majority believes that their community — and the country as a whole — would benefit from an expanded and improved public transportation system including rail and buses.
Americans not only underestimate how much of their tax dollars actually go to roads and bridges, 58 percent think we should be spending more of those dollars on public transportation and expanding other options. This is certainly encouraging news, and it shows just how disconnected a lot of D.C. policymakers are from what Americans really want.
But why do Americans think we need to increase spending on public transportation and ensure that more Americans have access to different ways to get around?
Well, one thing we learned is that it’s not to prevent global warming. Among a lot of very good reasons to provide more options, global warming ranked last, with a bare majority of 52 percent seeing it... Read more
