We've posed the following question to Planetizen's Interchange bloggers and National Journal's Transportation Experts.
Transportation sources contribute 30 percent of U.S. emissions of greenhouse gases, and road congestion is a large and growing problem in many urban areas. Yet the Highway Trust Fund is facing a severe cash crunch, and state transportation departments are worried that there won't be enough money for highways and mass transit. Should the next surface transportation bill allow states and municipalities to use a greater share of scarce Trust Fund dollars on non-highway projects such as bike lanes and pedestrian walkways?
Interchange bloggers and National Journal's Transportation Experts have answered. Read their responses.
Comments
Oh My God Yes
Of course we should be using money in the highway trust fund for transit and improvements for cyclists and pedestrians. Our problem in America isn't a lack of highways, it's a lack of bike lanes, of convenient transit lines, of space for people to walk.
Of course alternatives to the car have to be supported by denser more mixed-use land-use patterns as well.
We've over-invested in the private car for decades, it's time to correct our mistake before it's too late to stop serious impacts of climate change.
It's time to subsidize the solution instead of the problem.