T4 America Study Finds Americans Support Increased Funding for Public Transportation, Safe Walking and Bicycling

March 31st, 2010 by Jay Corbalis

Polling released today by the Transportation for America Campaign, of which NJ Future is a partner, finds that more than 4 in 5 (83%) voters agree the country “would benefit from an expanded and improved transportation system, such as rail and buses”, and that 59% think the best way to combat congestion is to expand transportation options, rather than simply build more roads. These were just a few of the findings in this comprehensive poll, which sought to establish voter’s attitudes towards transportation issues in anticipation of a federal transportation bill sometime this year.

Source: T4 America

In that context, one of the most interesting findings of the poll was that, when told that “currently 80 cents out of every federal transportation dollar goes to highways, while 17 cents is used for public transportation such as such as trains, rail, ferries and buses around the country, and the remainder for other transportation needs” 58% of respondents said more should be allocated towards public transportation. Not surprisingly, this attitude was more popular in the northeast, west coast and in urban areas, where more of the nation’s public transportation infrastructure is located. According to Geoff Anderson, co-chair of the Transportation for America campaign and President and CEO of Smart Growth America, “If Americans themselves were crafting the transportation bill, we would see a doubling of the share for public transportation; an ironclad system of accountability for restoring existing roads and bridges before simply building more of them; and a strong commitment to making all our streets safe enough for kids to bicycle to school or so seniors can walk to nearby restaurants or the drug store.”