OPINION * USA - Transit Investment Fuels More Jobs
Oakland,CAL,USA -New America Media, by Carli Paine -Jan 19, 2009: -- ... Transit connects people and employers. It pollutes far less than cars. And, perhaps most important in this economic crisis, it creates and sustains jobs far better than the leading transportation investment option—highway construction... In fact, public transportation creates 19 percent more jobs than the same investment in building roads or highways, according to an analysis of a 2004 United States Department of Transportation jobs creation model... And, according to the California Transit Association, for every $1 billion invested in new public transit projects, some 31,400 jobs are created and $3 billion is pumped into the local economy... In the United States, transportation is the second highest household expense, after housing. But people who live in a neighborhood well served by public transportation are able to reduce their spending on transportation from 25 percent of their household budget to just 9 percent... With transportation contributing one-third of all global warming pollution nationally, it's clear that we need transportation solutions that give people reliable, affordable alternatives to driving for every trip. Public transportation produces 95 percent less carbon monoxide (CO), 90 percent less in volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and about half as much carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrogen oxide (NOx), per passenger mile, as private vehicles... The national economy is faltering badly. It is time the federal government recognized and supported public transportation's role in propelling our economy into the 21st century...
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