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Americans Agree: Invest in Public Transportation
February 26, 2008
Posted by: Carol
As talk of infrastructure heats up among governors, it is worth mentioning again a study conducted last October by Public Opinion Strategies. In response to the question, "Which of the following proposals is the best long-term solution to reducing traffic in your area?" 75% of respondents said, "Improve public transportation." Another 26% said, "Develop communities where people do not have to drive as much." Only 21% answered, "Build new roads."
Respondents also said their community is not doing a very good job of providing public transportation. Only 35% said their community was doing a good or excellent job. By comparison, 59% of respondents felt their local community was doing a good or excellent job of providing parks and protecting open space.
To reduce energy use, 90% of respondents want to regulate the car industry to make vehicles more fuel efficient, 88% want to provide improve public transportation, and 88% want to require homes and other buildings to be more energy efficient. 83% believe walkable communities ought to be our response. Only 16% approve of increasing gas taxes to discourage driving.
One more point: 81% of voters want to redevelop older areas rather than building new. (And only 4% are undecided on this question.)
Americans are becoming more sophisticated in how they think about infrastructure. Are our leaders as progressive?
(And a note: Public Opinion Strategies describes itself as a Republican polling firm.)
Steve, February 27, 2008
That survey was conducted on our behalf (Smart Growth America), as well as the National Association of Realtors. If anyone wants to find the full details about the survey, you can find it all here: 2007 Growth and Transportation Survey.
Link: http://blog.smartgrowthamerica.org
daver, February 28, 2008
Great now if we could just get our politicians to agree.
Link: http://thereidplan.blogspot.com