Instead of reducing transportation funding to states that are doing right, the federal government should reward states and localities that reduce gas consumption and miles driven by helping them more easily fund public transportation projects. Light rail, rapid bus transit, commuter rail, high-speed intercity rail and other forms of public transit are energy efficient, encourage development patterns that require less driving, and help cut pollution that leads to global warming. A recent report by the Maryland Public Interest Research Group shows that public transit around the country saved 3.4 billion gallons of oil in 2006 and prevented 26 million tons of greenhouse gases.
Americans are eager for better public transit options. In fact, 53 percent of Americans tell pollsters they would like to take more public transportation if it were available near where they live and work.
Giving citizens the transportation choices they want will require Congress to make changes. Since 1956, federal, state and local governments have spent nine times more on highways than on public transportation. This ratio has improved in recent years, but not fast enough. And President Bush proposes to take us back in time by cutting transit money, slashing Amtrak's budget and raiding the transit trust fund to make up for the shortage in the highway fund. Such cuts would move the country in exactly the wrong direction.
