Illinois PIRG strongly criticized President Bush's proposed 2009 budget for reducing transit spending and raiding the Mass Transit Account at a time when national trends show the need for aggressive new investment in public transportation. The President's FY09 budget proposed cutting $202 million from transit spending and transferring $3.2 billion from funds dedicated to transit.
"There is a perfect storm that should favor far more investment in public transportation, not less. We've got everything from worsening oil dependency and traffic congestion to rising gas prices and a booming demand for public transit," said Brian Imus, State Director at Illinois PIRG. "Moving in the wrong direction is tremendously irresponsible."
President Bush faces a difficult situation in transportation finance since the administration has long ignored an impending shortfall in the Highway Trust Fund which the Treasury Department estimated last August would face a $4.3 billion shortfall in the beginning of 2009. The trust fund is primarily financed by federal gas taxes which have lost value since last raised in 1993. The Mass Transit Account is similarly expected to go into deficit beginning in 2010, even without the proposed raid on its accounts. Shifting the money from transit to highways would merely hide the shortfalls until after Bush leaves office.
The Department of Transportation has spent more on highway projects than originally authorized in the 2005 transportation act (SAFETEA-LU) which expires at the end of 2009. Spending on public transportation projects, which face more strenuous restrictions and higher matching requirements by states, has meanwhile fallen below those authorized amounts.
With more than 10 billion trips taken annually, the growth rate of public transportation has outpaced the growth rate of the population and vehicle miles traveled on our nation's roads over the past decade. According to a Zogby poll released last month, a majority of Americans (53%) say they would use mass transit if it were easily available where they live and work. Forty-seven percent (47%) of those who travel alone by car to work hold the same opinion.
"Bush's proposal is like taking your star quarterback out of the game because the defense is giving up too many points" continued Imus. "Solving America's transportation problems on the back of public transportation just doesn't make sense. These investments are key to meeting our nation's future challenges."
