Study Analyzes Transportation Spending In 7 States

"The study by the Chicago-based Joyce Foundation is the first ever to examine Midwest spending on transit, rail projects, road repair and other improvements since the passage of ISTEA, the federal transportation bill, in 1991. The nation's second largest federal appropriation at over $300 billion, the transportation bill funds projects ranging from sidewalks and bike paths to mass transit and highways. Congress is currently preparing to consider a proposed six-year reauthorization of the legislation.The seven-state Joyce study – the only report documenting impacts of transportation spending on any region in the country – reports that over $42 billion in federal dollars went to the Midwest under ISTEA. The money funded major projects in Chicago, Indianapolis, Minneapolis and other Midwest cities to improve bus service, create bike paths and repair roads. But the report concludes that the region has not taken full advantage of opportunities to increase transit ridership and improve air quality. Meanwhile, traffic congestion costs the Midwest more than $10 billion annually; freight-rail tieups in Chicago (the world's third-largest intermodal port) slow down shipments nationally; and promising light-rail and high-speed rail projects remain stalled for lack of funds." [See sidebar for links to the entire report, executive summary, charts, and facts sheets for each state studied.]

Thanks to Abhijeet Chavan