New York Daily News - Time for Federal Government to Invest More in Mass Transit System

Op-Ed

New York Daily News - Time for Federal Government to Invest More in Mass Transit System

New York City puts the mass in mass transit. Our rails, buses and subways carry nearly one- third of the nation's transit passengers. They provide 8.5 million rides each day and more than 2.6 billion rides a year. The system is larger than the next 10 transit systems combined.

Across the country, communities and states are following New York's lead. Millions of Americans are clamoring for more public transit. In just the second quarter of this year, Americans took more than 2.8 billion trips on public transportation - 140 million more trips than over the same period last year.

As Americans turn to public transportation in greater and greater numbers, the increased demand reveals a transit system that is overstressed and undersized, overflowing and underfunded. As a result, public transportation networks are now being forced to employ stopgap measures to meet surging demand. For example, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority here in the city is exploring a plan to use folding seats on subway cars in order to pack in more riders. Public transit systems across the country are faced with a tough choice: cut service or raise fares.

For our economy, our environment and the people who depend on public transit, neither is an acceptable option.

It's time to make public transportation a public priority. Public transportation is a win-win-win scenario. Using public transit can save Americans thousands of dollars a year at the gas pump, reduce congestion on our roadways and help us cut our dependence on foreign oil, which hamstrings our security and pollutes our environment.

That is why I've introduced legislation that would authorize $1.7 billion in federal funds, including $237 million for New York, to help mass transit systems across the country expand and prepare for the massive rise in commuters. It's called the Saving Energy through Public Transportation Act, and it would help people who want to switch from the driver's seat to the passenger seat on commuter trains and buses, subway cars and public transit systems from coast to coast.

But that should only be the beginning. Our crumbling infrastructure constricts our economy and costs us billions in wasted time and fuel. And our failure to invest in infrastructure today is a burden we place on our children and grandchildren. The National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission estimates that $225 billion each year is required to meet the country's transportation infrastructure needs. We are investing less than half of that. Every day we fall further behind.

Compare that with China, currently spending 9% of its GDP on infrastructure, to our 2%. For the past six years, and with no signs of slowing down, China has opened at least one new subway system every year.

When Congress considers a new transportation bill next year, we must cast aside business as usual. We should bring every region of our country together to develop long-term solutions that will create 21st century jobs and a 21st century infrastructure network - to grow a 21st century economy.

Yes, cities like New York are in particularly dire need of new investments in transportation infrastructure. But this isn't just about cities. The suburbs need and deserve big improvements, and rural areas do, too.

Fifty-two years ago, President Dwight Eisenhower signed into law the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, approving what was at the time the largest public works project in American history. It was born of a simple idea: For our security and economy, as the world changed and we adapted to new threats and opportunities, America had to be ready and prepared for our future. And so the Interstate Highway System was born.

Now it's time again for visionary and determined leadership. We face different challenges - but a task of similar magnitude. To create jobs, cut traffic and congestion, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, stem the tide of harmful pollution and emissions, save families money at the pump and provide our economy the building blocks to grow, we simply must repair, renew and revitalize our infrastructure - including public transit.

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