Finally, something Red and Blue America can agree on! A new poll published this week by the NRDC shows support for local investment in transit to reduce traffic crosses the country's wide political and geographic divides.
Tanya Snyder reports on the Natural Resources Defense Council poll's curious findings that show strong support for transit across the board (although reduced from the 2007 version of the poll), even though the majority of respondents had not taken transit in the last month.
"When asked what would solve traffic problems in their community," reports Snyder, "42
percent of Americans say more transit. Only 20 percent say more roads.
And 21 percent would like to see communities developed that don't
require so much driving. Two-thirds support local planning that guides
new development into existing cities and near public transportation."
"Despite a very polarized environment on Capitol Hill when it comes to transit,
there's no pronounced partisan divide in the real world. (See chart
above.) Sure, liberal Democrats are nearly five times more likely to
want transit than new roads, and conservative Republicans are only 70
percent more likely to want transit – but in the end, they all tend to
think transit is the way to go."
"The same goes for the urban/rural split. Yes, more big city residents
want public transit (50 percent) than new roads (15 percent). But even
in rural areas, 36 percent say transit versus 24 percent who want roads."
FULL STORY: NRDC Poll: Americans Support New Transit Twice as Much as New Roads
Republicans, Democrats, and Transit
Depending on how the issue is phrased, support for public transit can be bipartisan.
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Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
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HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
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