Streetfilms.org: William Lind’s Conservative Voice for Public Transportation

No, it doesn’t mention cycling, but it’s eye opening as to why highways are so dominant and public (mass) transportation suffers for it.  Quick takeaways:

  • Mass transit accounts for 40% of transportation in areas that it serves, but only 1% of total trips by Americans.
  • Half of Americans have access to public / mass transportation, and only half of those say it’s satisfactory.
  • 80 years ago, the privately owned/operated railways began being taxed to subsidize the government run highways, leading to the current dominance of car-centric transportation.
  • There is a misconception that transit requires subsidies, but in reality, both highways and public transit require about 50% of their operating costs to come from subsidies.

Kudos to Streetfilms.org and the other cycling bloggers for putting this out there.

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