As gas prices rise, decades-long trends in transportation in the U.S. are reversing. Public transit ridership in 2007 hit its highest rate in fifty years, while driving miles are on the decline for the first time since 1980. Americans drove fewer miles in May 2008 than the previous May, and that 3.7% decrease is the third-largest on record (the largest was the 4.3% drop between March 2007 and March 2008.)Yet as drivers give up their cars and turn to public transit, transit agencies are struggling with underfunding and increased fuel costs, and many are responding by decreasing service and increasing fares:
More than 90 percent of public-transit officials report that their ridership is up over the past three years, according to a survey released [in June] by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA). And more than 90 percent credited the sky-high gasoline prices.At the same time, many transit agencies find themselves squeezed by the higher fuel prices and smaller local government subsidies, which are shrinking because of the economic downturn. Almost 70 percent have had to raise fares, and some have even been forced to curtail services to cope with the high energy prices, even as the demand is increasing.
"You've got a time in history where these agencies could be tapping a new market and attracting the suburban people who, heretofore, have been less likely to ride [public transit]," says Stephen Reich, director of the Center for Urban Transportation Research at the University of South Florida in Tampa. "Some agencies are even contracting service because of fuel costs and decreasing government support." - Christian Science Monitor
Even if drivers were to pay the full cost of government's investment in highways, they would not come close to paying for the costs driving imposes on other members of society. These "externalities" – including health care costs from air pollution and highway accidents, congestion, and noise—represent a major portion of the cost of driving, and are paid for by the rest of society, not drivers. One recent study estimated the cost of these negative impacts at more than $2 per gallon of gasoline.Most other industrialized countries require drivers to pay fuel taxes that are significantly higher than the cost of providing highway infrastructure. Every European nation except Hungary charges fuel taxes, tolls and user fees that more than cover the cost of providing highways, and in several countries highway users pay enough to cover the social costs of driving as well. - A Better Way to Go
CFTE analyzed more than 200 state and local ballot measures related to transportation since 2000. According to the report, voters in 33 different states have approved 70 percent of all proposed transportation measures generating funding conservatively estimated in the excess of $70 billion. Transportation measures have passed at twice the rate of all ballot measures.
"Few issues have consistently won the confidence and support of voters – regardless of region, community size, or party – as measures supporting public transportation," said CFTE Advisory Board Member Art Guzzetti. "A look at the track record clearly demonstrates the willingness of voters across the nation to support expanded choice and investment with their tax dollars." - Center for Transportation Excellence
And in an October 2007 poll, 49% of respondents thought that improving public transportation was the best long-term solution to reducing traffic in their area, compared to only 21% advocating the building of new roads. 88% approved of improved public transportation as a strategy to reduce energy use (62% strongly approved). And when asked what Congress's top transportation expenditure should be, more respondents (33%) prioritized expanding and improving public transit than those favoring expanding and improving roads (21%) (Source).
