Transportation Freedom Day

America today faces a very high cost of living while jobs are scarce and wages are flat.
It is time to tackle the root cause of why we spend so much time and money on transportation.

That is a system centered on automobiles and in and for added public transit. For over 60 years the nation and states have dismantled public transit while vastly over-expanding roads. Congress invests 84% of our transportation dollars into roads and only 20% into public transit. The state follows sutie.

Over time, we have shifted from a low, shared-cost public transit system to a high-cost private car ownership system. This comes with the costs already mentioned (gas, insurance, repairs, car payments, tolls, parking). But there are societal costs as well. Chicago has some of the nation’s worst traffic congestion. We waste time and money in traffic. Our air quality does not meet federal standards for cleanliness, which increases health care costs. And a report issued today tells us that over 35,000 people died in auto accidents in 2009.

But today, people are driving less and the demand for public transit has reached record highs. That’s why we are calling on the city, state, and Congress to support transit operations funding. Transit operations will allow us to lower fares and expand service. This would be an immediate benefit to low-income African-American, Latino, Asian-American riders on the far South and West Sides. Many don’t even drive, and they have been hig hard by CTA bus cuts.

This would also benefit suburban commuters looking to dump the car habit for greener alternatives.

Most directly, transit operations support will put back to work, people like the 1060 brothers and sisters at the Amalgamated Transit Union who lost their jobs last month. But we can also add jobs. A CNT study of the stimulus (ARRA) showed that it created twice as many jobs in transit per dollar as in highway construction. These are living wage jobs with dignity. Every $1 invested in transit generates $6 in economic activity.

If combined with policies to reduce truck and auto use, increasing transit operations can reduce air pollution and our carbon footprint. Creative ways to raise revenue and save money exist at each level of government if authorities have the will to do the right thing.

Contact Mayor Daley, Governor Quinn and Senators Durbin & Burris today. Tell them Transit Operations matter to you.

To find out more about TRPT, visit http://transitriders.net

Thank you.